
Class _?^_^_0i 



CppyiightN". 



503 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



ROXANA 



Copyright Edition 

Price, 75c. Postpaid 

THE STERLING PUBLISHERS 

3634 Michigan Ave., 

Chicago, U. S. A. 



ROXANA 


A Social Drama 
in Three Acts 

George Rockhill Craw 

'A 


THE STERLING PUBLISHERS 
Chicago, U. S. A. 


1 



c^'l^la 






Copyright, 1909 
By GEORGE ROCKHILL CRAW 

Alili BIGHTS RBSBRVED 



Set up and electrotyped. Published, December. 1909. 

Professional and amateur acting ri^rhts are held by George Rockhill 
Craw. The right of representation is reserved by him. and perform- 
ances unauthorized by him are forbidden. Application for performing 
rights to this drama must be made to him, and any infringement or 
piracy will be prosecuted according to The Copyright Law of fhe United 
States of America, in force July 1. 1909. which, among other things, pro- 
vides the following in the case of an infringement of this copyright: 

That the infringer is liable to an injunction restraining such in- 
fringement; 

That the penalty of one hundred dollars is provided for the first, and 
fifty dollars for every subsequent infringing performance; 

That any person who willfully and for profit shall infringe any copy- 
right secured by this Act, or who shall knowingly and willfully aid or 
abet such infringement, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and 
upon conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment for not 
exceeding one year or by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars 
nor more than one thousand dollars, or both. 



W. F. Hall Pbintiko Oo. 

CHICAGO, V. B. A. 



©CI.D 



' 'I am to pray you not to strain 
my speech to grosser issues.' ' 



CHARACTERS. 

ROXANA. 

Gordon Lee. 
Ralph Conners. 
President Turner. 
Ella^ Roxanas maid. 

The action takes place in Roxana's 

home, in a city of the 

United States. 



ROXANA 

ACT FIRST. 



A library in a house near a university. The room 
is cozily and tastefully furnished. There are rows 
of book-shelves with here and there a few small 
pieces of classic statuary. On the walls are some 
university pennants and pictures in frames. At 
the right, rear, is a couch with fancy pillows care- 
lessly arranged upon it. A large table to the 
left of centre, front, holds papers, a few books, and 
some photographs in small frames. One or two 
easy chairs and some with straight carved backs, 
are in the room. 

At right is a large open window, at the front side of 
which are hung some Tibetan ornaments, con- 
sisting of a sword with silver, and coral handle and 
scabbard; a pair of odd boots with long, fringed, 
colored garters; a hand-drum, made of two skulls, 
placed crown to crown, with fancy tasselled 
handle; also a chatelaine to which is attached a 
long, keen-bladed dagger. The window looks out 
upon a small park, through which runs a street. 
At left, a door leads to other parts of the house; 
at back, centre, open double doors lead to a hall 
and to the street. 



ROXANA 



Act I 



The curtain rises upon Roxmidj who dressed in a 
sculptor s goivn, is reading a letter. She is a beau- 
tiful, well formed brunette of twenty -four, and of 
average height. She lays the letter down and 
touches a push-button on the wall. Ella, an in- 
telligent looking mulatto maid of twenty, enters, 
left. She has a long stemmed vase, filled with 
roses, in her hand. 
RoxANA. {Going toward her.) Oh, aren't they 

beautiful after the showers this morning! 

Ella. {Pleased.) Shall I set them on the table, 

Miss Roxie, or should you like them in your studio? 
RoxANA. No ; I shall work no more to-day, Ella. 

You may set them on the table. It was lovely of 

you to pick them and bring them in. 

Ella. I knew you would enjoy them, although 

they were so pretty in the garden, it seemed a shame 

to cut them. You rang, did you not. Miss Roxie? 
RoxANA. Yes; I wanted to ask if Mrs. Thorne 

had gone. 

Ella. Yes, Miss Roxie; she left shortly after 

you went into your studio. 

RoXANA. Then you sent word to Mr. Welling- 
ton that it would be safe for him to come this 

afternoon ? 

Ella. Yes; he will be here at four. I shall let 



Act I ROXANA 

him in at the back door. He will wait in the kit- 
chen. 

RoxANA. I shall arrange to be alone at that 
time; then I will ring for you and have you show 
him in here. After that you may go out till tea- 
time, if you wish. 

Ella. Miss Roxana — 

RoxANA. Yes, Ella? 

Ella. Miss Roxie, it doesn't seem right that a 
great man like Mr. Wellington should have to come 
to the back door. 

RoXANA. No ? 

Ella. The front door of this house would be 
honored if he should pass through it. 

RoxANA. That is true, but it is for the sake of 
my honor that he will not. (Anxiously.) Every 
safeguard must be thrown about his visit to me here. 
You know our relationship, Ella. 

Ella. Your secret is safe with me. 

Roxana. I know it is ; and even he will humble 
himself to protect me when he comes here. The risk 
is almost too great, but I must see him again before 
he leaves to-night. 

Ella. To think, Miss Roxana, that he has been 
received at the front door of the White House! If 
it were not for his fame, and for the secrecy that I 



RQXANA A'*^ 

know must be observed in his meeting you here, I 
should almost think you were ashamed of him. 

RoXANA. (Starts.) Ashamed of him? No; I 
am not ashamed of him. (Looks down.) I am 
ashamed of myself. 

Ella. No, no, Miss Roxie, don't say that ! No 
one could blame you. 

RoxANA. All that I have, he has given me. My 
university education, my clothes, my travels, my 
studio and home here with Mrs. Thorne, are paid for 
with the money that he sends me. 

Ella. You are grateful. Miss Roxie, and so am 
I. All that I have, I owe to you. You got me this 
place and pay part of my wages. You have taught 
me so much outside of what I learned at the public 
schools, and I want to learn more so much ! 

RoxANA. You shall, Ella. You are already re- 
markably well read. Are not the two hours a day 
that I am giving you, enough? 

Ella. Oh, plenty! I am fairly flying, but when 
I think of all you know, and how much I'd like to 
be like you, I become discouraged. 

RoXANA. (Starts guiltily.) Like me? 

Ella. (Idolizingly.) Ah, I could never be like 
you, Miss Roxana. Your skin is white. What a 
handicap mine is to me! 

RoxANA. Why, Ella! You are crying. 



^'^^ RQXANA 

Ella. (Bitterly.) Miss Roxle, you don't know 
what it is to be colored. 

RoxANA. (In distress.) Don't, Ella! 

Ella. I can't help it. To-day there was a va- 
cant seat in the car when I went down town. 

RoxANA. Yes? What happened? 

Ella. I took it. Some men across from me be- 
gan smiling at a man who was sitting at my side. 
They knew him, and were making fun of him — be- 
cause / was there. Miss Roxie, why did it seem 
such a great joke to them to see a colored girl sit- 
ting beside their white friend? 

RoxANA. (In pain.) Oh, I don't know! 

Ella. And the other day — I was sitting alone in 
a seat. A young girl came in and sat down beside 
me. She had not seen me at first, but when she 
did, she immediately changed her seat. Oh, it was 
done so pointedly, and in front of so many people! 
{Drying her eyes.) She seemed to be such a little 
lady, too, until she did that. 

RoxANA. Perhaps she didn't know it would hurt 
you. 

Ella. No; but that hurts me all the more. 
They don't think colored folks have feelings. We're 
just animals to them, without intellect, or pride, or 
reason. 

RoxANA. You must forgive them. 



ROXANA A<=*i 

Ella. Yes; they know not what they do. 

RoxANA. I am so glad you feel that way. 

Ella. But the sting is there just the same. 
Something happens every day to depress me, and 
Miss Roxie, the more I learn, and the nearer I ap- 
proach the white standard in education and man- 
ners, the deeper the little looks and smiles and cuts 
of the white folks wound me. 

RoxANA. Your education should bring you a 
philosophy that will make it easy for you to bear 
these things, Ella. It should broaden you. 

Ella. Education is bringing me only hopeless- 
ness. It has taken rebellion and hatred from my 
heart. 

RoxANA. That is a distinct gain, Ella. 

Ella. It has broadened me that far, but it has 
broadened the hopelessness, also, into a great, dark 
sea that stretches out to the end of life. 

RoXANA. (Picks up he?' letter and sits near the 
table. ) You must wait. A light will come over the 
sea. 

Ella. {Going to her.) A light? 

RoXANA. Yes ; the dawn of daj^ 

Ella. You mean a day of equal opportunity for 
our race? 

RoxANA. Yes; and of equal respect, and equal 
toleration. 

8 



A<=ti RQXANA 

Ella. It will never come. 
RoxANA. Yes; it will come. 
Ella. Not in my life. 
RoxANA. You must not think that. 

Ella. How can I help it? Miss Roxana, what 
is there in life for me? I have progressed far be- 
yond the intellectual boundaries of the negro people. 
I crave the manners and thought and civilization of 
the white race. I long for equality in their social 
scale. But what is there for me? Only the dark 
and hopeless sea of social ostracism. 

Roxana. (Rising. Tensely.) Social ostracism ! 
You are showing me its horrors. (To herself.) Per- 
haps, it will come to me ! A little slip, and all would 
be known. Then it would come to me. (Turns 
to Ella.) I want to know about it all, Ella! Make 
me see it all! 

Ella. I could never make you see it all, Miss 
Roxie, because your skin is white. That is why you 
will never know it all. My skin is the "scarlet let- 
ter" of my ostracism. It is hard to wear it when 
one has never sinned. You have never had to wear 
it. 

Roxana. (Looking away.) Mine does not 
show, but it is there. I have sinned. My whole 
life is a lie. (She sways.) 

9 



ROXANA A^ti 

Ella. {Alarmed.) You are 111, Miss Roxle! 
We should not have talked of this. 

RoxANA. Perhaps not! I was picturing what 
might happen If he should ever know. 

Ella. You mean Mr. Lee? 

RoxANA. Yes. 

Ella. {Darkening.) I do not like him. He 
scorns the colored people. I have heard him dis- 
cuss the negro problem with you and Mr. Conners. 

RoXANA. I thought the rebellion and hatred 
had gone, Ella? 

Ella. They have. In the case of the northern 
whites. 

RoxANA. Why do you still keep them for the 
southern ? 

Ella. Because the Southerners are more Intol- 
erant and prejudiced against us, and because the 
white blood of their fathers often runs under our 
brown skins. 

Roxana. {Quickly.) Not the blood of the 
Lees! 

Ella. {Shrugs her shoulders.) No; their 
overseers', of course. 

Roxana. {In cold reproof.) That will do, 
Ella. 

Ella. {Petulantly.) You love Gordon Lee. 

10 



Act I ROXANA 

RoxANA. {In warning.) Ella! 

Ella. But, if you did not love him, you would 
hate him. You will hate him some day. 

RoxANA. {In pain.) You must not say such 
things. {Apprehensively.) Why do you think I 
shall hate him? 

Ella. Because when he knows all, he will hate 
you. 

RoxANA. Oh, never that! 

Ella. He will forsake you, Miss Roxie. Gor- 
don Lee is too proud and intolerant ever to forgive. 

RoxANA. He shall never know. 

Ella. Miss Roxie, if you marry him, God 
grant that he may never know. 

RoXANA. {With intense anxiety.) He must 
never know. {The door-bell rings. She brightens. 
Eagerly.) That may be Gordon, now! 

{Ella goes out^ rear. Roxana goes to the 
table and arranges the flotuers in the vase^ 
humming happily. Ralph Conners enters, 
rear. He is robust j of average height, frank 
and hearty in manner, and about thirty- 
six years of age.) 

Conners. Good afternoon, Roxana! 

Roxana. {Going toward him.) Oh, it is you, 
Ralph? 

II 



ROXANA Act I 

CoNNERS. Yes; I thought I'd find Gordon 
here. The Philippine expedition is to leave within 
a month. 

RoxANA. So soon! When did you hear that, 
Ralph? 

CoNNERS. It has just been decided. 

RoxANA. Then Gordon will soon be here to 
tell me. 

CoNNERS. No doubt; but he is a busy man to- 
day. His party will be gone a year or more. We 
shall miss him, Roxana. 

RoxANA. (Sadly.) It will be the longest year 
of my life. 

CoNNERS. (Cheerily.) He will be back be- 
fore you know it. 

Roxana. Sometimes, I fear he may never re- 
turn. A collector goes into so many dangers. 

CoNNERS. Yes; but his party is an experienced 
one, and Gordon is a strong and tactful man in the 
field. 

Roxana. I know. His former work for the 
museum proves that. He has already brought it 
some of its rarest exhibits. Won't you sit down? 
(They both sit.) 

CoNNERS. He will bring it and the university 
greater glory when he returns. 

12 



Act I ROXANA 

RoXANA. Yes; but this time he is going among 
the head-hunters. Their very name is frightful. 

CoNNERS. They are no worse than the ma- 
rauding tribesmen of northern Tibet. Gordon re- 
turned without a scratch from his researches among 
them. (Goes to Tibetan ornaments on the zvall, 
right.) They were certainly a fierce crowd. These 
Tibetan fixings prove that. (Takes dagger out.) 
Look at this! Wicked, isn't it? (Touches scab- 
bard of the sword.) And this sword, too. (Takes 
down hand-drum.) What is this, Rox'ana? 

RoXANA. (Going to him.) A hand-drum. 

CoNNERS. I never noticed it before. By Jove, 
Roxana, it's made of two skulls ! How odd ! 

RoxANA. (Slyly.) How provident, I should 
say. 

CoNNERS. (Smiling tentatively.) Provident? 

Roxana. (Vivacious.) Of course! Two heads 
are better than one. 

CoNNERS. (Laughs, and taps one head of the 
drum and then the other. Quickly.) If both are 
mutton heads. 

Roxana. Mutton heads? 

CoNNERS. (Mocking her with twinkling eyes.) 
Of course! They are covered with sheepskin. 
Roxana. (Tossing her head.) O you! 

13 



ROXANA A^^ti 

CoNNERS. {Hangs up the drum.) If Gordon 
could get away with this stuff, he'll come back safe 
enough from the Philippines. {Sits.) 

RoxANA. {Resuming her seat.) I shall hope 
and pray for him. It is hard to lose him even for 
a year. We three have been such good friends, 
Ralph. 

CoNNERS. I hope we shall always be, Roxana. 
After you two are married, I shall not feel so much 
like an intruder as I have during your engagement 
days. 

Roxana. {Quickly.) You have never been 
that! 

CoNNERS. Well, when two persons are in love, 
they say two are company, and three, a crowd. 

Roxana. Then you don't think three will be a 
crowd after we are married? Why, Ralph! That 
is the same as saying we shall not be in love after 
we are married. How terrible of you! 

CoNNERS. I didn't mean that, but its more con- 
ventional for a married couple to have a close 
bachelor friend than for two who are engaged. 

Roxana. I'm glad you weren't cynical. 

CoNNERS. And I shall feel easier in that capac- 
ity after the knot is tied, than I do now. 

Roxana. You goose! 



Act I ROXANA 

CoNNERS. No; I am really serious. 

RoxANA. So am I then. You have never in- 
truded. You were Gordon's friend long before 
I came Into his life. I could never forget that. I 
liked you first because of that; now, because a gen- 
uine friendship has grown up between us. 

CoNNERS. {Troubled. Rising.) You may 
have cause to doubt that. 

RoxANA. {Surprised.) Not to doubt your 
friendship ? 

CoNNERS. {Seriously.) Roxana, last night, 
Gordon and I were discussing the expedition. He 
said he should be gone for many months, and that 
he Intended to make you his wife before he left. 

Roxana. Yes; I have agreed to marry him be- 
fore he goes. 

CoNNERS. I have advised him against that. 

Roxana. You think it will be best to wait until 
he returns? 

CoNNERS. That does not matter. I have advised 
him not to marry you at all unless you tell him more 
about yourself than he now knows. 

Roxana. {Quietly. Rises and turns away.) 
That is our affair, Ralph. 

Conners. I know It is; but I want to tell you 
what I have said to Gordon. It is because I do not 

15 



ROXANA *"='! 

wish to be two-faced. Besides, he has asked me to 
be your protector while he is gone. 

RoXANA. (She turns toward him.) Go on, 
Ralph. 

CoNNERS. You have told Gordon that your 
mother and father were legally married and that 
you are a legitimate offspring of that union. 

RoxANA. (Brushing at her dress.) Spoken like 
a true lawyer, Ralph. 

CoNNERS. You have told him that there has 
been nothing in the personal conduct of your life, 
or in the lives of your parents and relatives, that is 
not wholly lawful and respectable. 

RoXANA. (Looking up.) I have told him that. 

CoNNERS. You have refused to give him any de- 
tails at to your birth-place or relatives, or as to the 
people who have known your parents, whom you say 
are dead. You have told and will tell nothing of 
your life before you entered the university. 

RoXANA. (Going toward him.) That is all 
true. 

CoNNERS. As Gordon's friend, I have pointed 
out to him what I believe to be the danger of a 
marriage with you under such conditions. 

RoxANA. (Simply.) I do not hold it against you, 
Ralph. You did it for Gordon's sake. You had 
only his welfare at heart. (Firmly.) But, Ralph, if 

i6 



Act I RQXANA 

Gordon marries me, it will be under those condi- 
tions. 

CoNNERS. {Perturbed.) Gordon zi;/// marry you. 
He believes you and he believes in you. 

RoxANA. What did he say to your protests? 

CoNNERS. That they wtrt based on your not 
having told him the truth. 

RoxANA. Not having told him the truth? 

CoNNERS. Yes; about there having been nothing 
unlaw^ful in your life, or in the lives of your fam- 

;iy. 

RoXANA. No ; there has been nothing unlawful- 
nothing that was not wholly respectable. 

CoNNERS. Gordon is satisfied with that state- 
ment. 

RoxANA. If he wants me for his wife, Ralph, he 
will have to accept it. I can go no further. 

CoNNERS. Of course, to me, your stand is very 
odd — ^very unreasonable, Roxana. 

RoxANA. Yes; one must have faith. What else 
did Gordon say? 

CoNNERS. That he would believe your word 
against the evidence of his own eyes. 

Roxana. (Slyly.) That was rather strong, 
wasn't it, Ralph? 

CoNNERS. No; I believe he would. 

17 



ROXANA * ^^*^ 

RoxANA. You silly! You know he would not. 
But I have told him only the truth. 

CoNNERS. {Holding out his hand.) And we are 
still friends? 

RoXANA. (Going to him and taking his hand.) 
Oh, yes, indeed! I could not think less of you for 
this. (The door-bell rings. Joyously.) That is 
Gordon ! Excuse me, Ralph. 

{She runs out, back. Conners lights a cigar. 
Roxana returns with Lee, whose arm is 
about her. He is thirty-four, tall, well knit, 
and masterful in manner. He has some 
gray hairs. They kiss just outside the 
doorway, back, unseen by Conners, who 
is smoking. He smiles good naturedly as 
he hears their words, but, discreetly, 
does not look around. Lee has a book in 
his hand.) 

Roxana. (As Lee releases her.) Go in and 
talk to Ralph, Gordon ; it will take me only a second 
to change my gown. 

Lee. Only a second? Let's see. (Sing-song.) 
Sixty minutes make one second — 

Roxana. (Interrupting.) Since when, Gordon? 

Lee. Since the birth of Eve. 

i8 



Act I ROXANA 

RoxANA. (Laughing.) Oh! {She goes out, 
rear.) 

Lee. (Entering.) Ah, Ralph! 

CoNNERS. (Turning.) Hello, Gordon! So you 
are to leave us soon! 

Lee. In a month. 

CoNNERS. Roxana and I have just been lament- 
ing the fact. I have told her of my perfidy. 

Lee. (Fondly.) And she iorgave you. (Briskly.) 
I have come to arrange for our wedding day. How 
fortunate you are here. 

CoNNERS. I suppose it will be soon. 

Lee. Day after to-morrow, at noon, if the bride 
and best man (Bows deferentially to Conners.) 
shall find it convenient. 

Conners. You may count on me. 

Lee. I think Roxana will be agreeable. Ralph, 
I have so much to do before the expedition leaves 
that there will not be time to select and furnish a 
home until my return from the Islands. ( They sit.) 

Conners. Yes; that is true. 
Lee. It will be best for Roxana to remain here, 
with Mrs. Thome, during my absence. 

Conners. I can see no reason why she should 
not. 

Lee. I think she will agree to it. (After a mo- 

19 



ROXANA *«*! 

ment. Goes to Conners,) I trust you are no longer 
opposed to our marriage. 

Conners. I shall always be opposed to it, unless 
Roxana makes an open book of her past life. She 
is a mystery. One should be careful about marrying 
a mystery. 

Lee. She is a beautiful, true woman. 

Conners. She is beautiful, and we have always 
found her true. She is a mystery, however, and you 
should be careful about her reticence regarding her 
past. At times, I have had a feeling of vague uneasi- 
ness when I have been near her. At such times she 
seemed to be never at rest, and strange forces seemed 
to be at war in her personality. The feeling has 
been subtle, elusive, intangible. 

Lee. The devil! It serves you right. Suspicion 
Is the father of Halucination. 

Conners. {Dryly.) Sometimes. {After a mo- 
ment.) Gordon, I have deferred telling you of a 
strange incident that happened night before last. 
Some sweet shrubs of which I am very fond, grow 
in Mrs. Thome's garden at the rear of this house. 
I love them because they used to grow in my mother's 
garden when I was a boy. I entered Mrs. Thome's 
garden by the side gate, and walked in to gather a 
few of the blossoms. There was a moon, but for a 
moment, clouds obscured it, and in the semi-dark- 

20 



Act I ROXANA 

ness I ran into Roxana. I took her for the mulatto 
maid, and to reassure her, said, *'It's all right, Ella. 
It's Mr. Conners." Just then the moon came out, 
and I saw that it was Roxana who stood before me. 
"Roxana!" I cried in surprise. "I took you for 
Ella." 

Lee. You dolt, Ralph! She should have struck 
you in the face. 

Conners. It ivas tactless of me. 

Lee. I should think so! What did she say? 

Conners. That is the strange thing. {Rises 
and faces Lee.) She said, "All cats are black at 
night." There was a fearful self-loathing in her 
voice. Then she hastily led the way to the front 
porch. It seemed as if she were crying. 

Lee. I do not blame her. To be taken for a 
damned nigger wench ! 

Conners. But the remark! Was it not odd? 
(Sits.) 

Lee. No ; white cats are black at night. {Sits.) 
Her mind was lightning to give you such an answer. 
The irony was splendid. 

Conners. But why "Cats?" It is not a lofty 
metaphor. 

Lee. {Angrily. Rising.) Your vague suspicions 
and questionings of Roxana's motives are intolerable ! 

21 



ROXANA ^"^^ 

CoNNERS. (Firmly,) I have omitted one thing. 
When I have told you that, my conscience will be 
clear. 

Lee. (Sharply. Turning from him.) Nevermind 
it! 

CoNNERS. (Rising.) As we turned to leave the 
garden, I thought I saw the dark form of a man 
crouching in the shrubbery. 

Lee. (Turning on him.) No doubt! I can be- 
lieve you thought you saw it. 

CoNNERS. (Hurt.) You do me an injustice. 

Lee. Then keep still. I am tired of your 
thoughts, Ralph. They are not worthy of you. 

CoNNERS. (Quietly.) I am sorry. Won't you 
have a cigar? (Holds one out.) 

Lee. (Kindly.) Thanks. (Takes cigar and 
stands the book he has had in his hand, on its edge, 
on the table.) Don't let me forget this book when 
I go, Ralph. If I do, I'll have to come back for 
it. I'll set it on edge to keep it in plain view. 
(Lights his cigar.) 

CoNNERS. Is it one of your own ? 

Lee. No; it is a novel. I promised to lend it to 
a friend. 

CoNNERS. (Sits.) Have you considered taking 
Roxana with you, Gordon ? You could leave her in 
Manila while making your researches in the Islands. 

22 



Act I ROXANA 

Lee. I fear she would qot be contented there. 
She would have to give up her art, and that is what 
I had relied upon to divert her during my absence. 

CoNNERS. Yes; aside from her love for you, it 
is her greatest interest. Roxana is very talented. 
What is she doing now? 

Lee. {Sits.) She has just received her first large 
commission. It is for a statue of Hermes. 

Conners. a Hermes! For whom? 

Lee. The Lincoln Industrial and Normal Insti- 
tute. 

Conners. The great Georgia negro school ! Can 
you stand for that, Gordon? 

Lee. I am not running Roxana's business for 
her. I should be better pleased, however, if it were 
for a white school. 

Conners. A Hermes, eh? Let's see. Hermes 
was the inventor of letters, geometry, music, weights 
and measures, athletic exercises 

Lee. (Dryly. Interrupting.) and dice. 

Conners. {Smilin<r.) That ought to qualify him 
as the patron of a nigger school, eh Gordon? 

Lee. {Dry.) Yes; the "Seven! Come Eleven!" 
god. 

Conners. {He laughs.) Nevertheless, among 
artists, and here In the North, the commission to 

23 



ROXANA *<=»' 

make a statue for the Lincoln Institute will be con- 
sidered quite an honor. 

Lee. I suppose so. Roxana's friends, here, are 
very proud of her. 

CoNNERS. I never saw a girl make friends the 
way Roxana does. She is welcomed in all the best 
homes of the city, and her friendships are close 
ones. She is very proud of them. 

Lee. If she tried to answer all the social calls 
that are made upon her time, her art would suffer 
greatly. 

CoNNERS. She goes a great deal, however^^ Gor- 
don. She loves good company. 

Lee. Yes! I am glad she is not an artistic re- 
cluse. 

CoNNERS. No fear of that! Roxana has the so- 
cial instinct. 

Lee. She is everything that a man could wish 
in a woman. 

CoNNERS. Yes; so far as one can see. 

Lee. (Rising.) Great Scott, Ralph, how can you 
doubt her for a single instant! 

CoNNERS. I have said all I can on that rnatter, 
Gordon. I have spoken as your friend. She is your 
fiancee, not mine. 

Lee. But you think that I am taking desperate 

24 



Aoti ROXANA 

chances — that there might, after all, be a rift In the 
lute. 

CoNNERS. What's the use, Gordon? Roxana 
Is a religion with you. You believe In her and her 
mystery. 

Lee. Why should she not be a religion? Is 
there no such thing as faith? 

CoNNERS. Faith Is one thing; religion, another; 
marriage, another. One does not marry his re- 
ligion. If he did, there would be more divorce 
courts. 

Lee. And harder work for the devil. 

CoNNERS. Not so hard. If he has studied law. 

Lee. I can readily believe he has. It would be 
most natural. 

CoNNERS. I can assure you he has not. 

Lee. No? 

CoNNERS. It would do him no good. 

Lee. Why not? 

CoNNERS. They would not admit him to the bar. 

Lee. Perhaps the bar prefers him as a client. 

CoNNERS. Perhaps. He usually has good cases. 

Lee. {Slapping him on the back.) And they 
are well looked after by the present members, eh, 
Ralph? 

25 



ROXANA Act I 

CoNNERS. (Laughing good naturedly.) I like 
that! {Kindly sarcastic.) Of course there was noth- 
ing personal in it. 

Lee. {Laughs.) Oh, no! But must you lack 
faith in every one you do not know like a book, just 
because you are a lawyer? 

CoNNERS. {Serious. Rises.) I'm pleading com- 
mon sense only! Can nothing persuade you to put 
off this marriage until your return ? 

Lee, Nothing. 

CoNNERS. I am sorry. Try as I will, I cannot 
convince myself that I ought not to dissuade you from 
a hasty marriage, if I can. 

Lee. You cannot dissuade me. My mind is 
made up. Let's not mention it again. 

CoNNERS. But your judgment is surely blinded. 
I cannot conceive of your going into this thing with- 
out knowing all about the life of the woman 
you intend to marry. Think man ! The contract is 
for life! It involves your very career — ^your future 
happiness — everything ! 

Lee. Her friends accept her; why should not I? 

CoNNERS. That is different, and really, even 
they remark her reticence ; but she is so good, so en- 
tirely frank and true that ^well, they accept her — 

that's all. 

Lee. {Laughing.) Of course they do! They 
26 



Act I ROXANA 

can't help It. Even you can't help it, Ralph, with 
all your unjust and uncanny impressions of her. 

CoNNERS. But I tell you the responsibilities of 
marriage are not involved in a friendship. 

Lee. {Determined.) I wall accept the responsi- 
bilities of marriage. 

CoNNERS. I w^ish you v^^ould not do so now. 
Wait a year. It will not be long until you return. 
Show her that you will not accept her unless she 
tells you of her whole life. Then, perhaps she will, 
and you will probably find only some womanish ca- 
price back of her present silence. For the safety of 
your own happiness, I ask you to wait. 

Lee. Ralph, I cannot. I have every faith in 
Roxana. I have asked her to marry me before I go. 
I could not turn back now. It is impossible for me 
to wait. 

{Ella enters, rear.) 

Ella. Mr. Lee, Miss Roxana wishes you to 
step into the studio. 

Lee. Excuse me, Ralph. 
{He goes out, rear.) 

CONNERS. Ella! 

Ella. Yes, Mr. Conners. 

CoNNERS. When will you see your father again ? 

Ella. I expect to go home for a while to-night, 
sir. 

27 



ROXANA A«ti 

CoNNERS. I wish you would ask him to step into 
my office in the morning. Of course, you know that 
I am again running for alderman in this ward. I 
shall need his help among the colored voters. 

Ella. They will all vote for you, Mr. Conners. 
You made them all your friends the last time you 
ran. 

Conners. That is good news, Ella. Someone 
played me false, though, or I should have been 
elected. 

Ella. It must have been your white friends. J 
am sure the colored people siipported you. You 
do not hesitate to shake hands, and mingle with 
them, and they appreciate it. 

Conners. I consider them all my friends. Shall 
you see Henry to-night? 

Ella. (Sadly,) Henry is no longer anything to 
me. 

Conners. You don't tell me! 

Ella. Yes; it is true, Mr. Conners. 

Conners. What has happened? It isn't every 
girl that can marry a man who has been elected to 
the municipal bench, Ella. 

Ella. If he had taken his seat, all would have 
been well ; but they came to him — the white politi- 
cians — and showed him the difficulties and embar- 

28 



Act I ROXANA 

rassments he — a colored man — would meet with, if 
he took his seat. Then they got him to resign, 
and paid him to do it. Mr. Conners, your party 
nominated and elected Henry Porter so that the 
colored folks would stay in your party. You needed 
to show them that you would nominate and elect one 
of them to an important office, but you hadn't the 
courage to let him take his seat. Your party entered 
into a conspiracy with him to trick and deceive his 
own people. You went almost as low as he, when 
you bought him off. 

Conners. He resigned of his own free will. I 
do no know that he was bought off. 

Ella. Anyway, you know you believe he was. 
Mr. Conners, I know he was. Henry came to me 
with the money. It was then, when he brought 
that money to me for our new home, that I broke 
with him. 

Conners. That was folly, Ella. 

Ella. No; it was principle. 

Conners. I am very sorry. I cannot see that 
Henry was to blame. 

Ella. I will tell you why you cannot see. It 
is because the same thing that blinds you, made your 
party a bribe-giver, and Henry, a bribe-taker. 

Conners. What was that? 

Ella. Race prejudice. 

29 



ROXANA ^^*^ 

CoNNERS. You do not mean that / am preju- 
diced ? 

Ella. No; but because of the prejudice among 
your people, you beh'eve Henry was justified in do- 
ing wrong. Our race is poor and ignorant, Mr. 
Conners. It is a coarse but hardy plant. We have 
few men, like Henry, qualified for holding public 
office. If you wither and rot these few flowers as 
they spring into bloom, how can the plant progress? 

Conners. I see. It cannot. 

Ella. It, too, will wither and die, or becoming 
coarser and more noxious, it will be torn up by the 
roots, as an evil weed, by those who made it so. 

Conners. You refer to race wars? 

Ella. Yes. Our race is kept close to its primi- 
tive wildness and when the savagery breaks through 
the thin crust of civilization that has formed upon it, 
those w'ho have kept the crust thin, resort to the 
rope, the torch, and the bullet. 

Conners. I will admit there is much in what you 
say. 

Ella. It is only too true. (Listens.) They are 
coming back. I must go. 

Conners. Do not forget to ask your father to 
call, Ella. 

Ella. I shall tell him, Mr. Conners. 

(Ella goes out, left. Lee and Roxana enter, 
rear,) 

30 



Arti ROXANA 

RoXANA. It was rude of us to leave you alone, 
Ralph. 

CoNNERS. (Rising,) Not at all! Ella has just 
told me she is not to marry Henry Porter. 

Lee. She had better marry and make a home, 
rather than live here, Roxana, where you are putting 
false ideals into her head. It is a mistake to edu- 
cate one of her race. 

Roxana. Gordon, that is so narrow of you! 
(Sits.) 

Lee. No, Roxana. I need only cite Henry Por- 
ter's case. What has come of his education ? It got 
him elected to a judgeship, and ended in his moral 
degradation. 

Roxana. (Quietly,) I have my own ideas about 
that. However, all educated negroes need not go 
into politics. There are many professions and occu- 
pations open to them in which they may be useful 
and not obnoxious. 

Lee. But they are not satisfied with that. Henry 
Porter was not content to remain a lawyer. He 
aspired to become a judge. 

Roxana. Although Henry Porter might have 
made a learned, just, and fearless judge, I suppose 
the idea of a colored man presiding at trials in which 
the participants are white, would be intolerable. 

31 



ROXANA A^*^ 

CoNNERS. (Lightly,) Yes; we had to buy Por- 
ter off. There was no other way. 

RoxANA. But it w^as the idea, and not the man^ 
that was intolerable. The man was sacrificed to 
the idea, and the idea was a prejudice no deeper than 
his skin. 

Lee. Pardon me, but the idea is as deep as the 
future of the white race. The time is coming when 
you cannot buy off your Henry Porters. (Sits.) 

CoNNERS. And why not? 

Lee. Because you are educating the negroes. 
They are gaining ideals, moral courage, and respecta- 
bility. Even now, white woman are mating with 
them for physiological reasons that are as old as the 
tales of the blackamoors in the "Arabian Nights." 
The attraction is fundamental, but there is an insula- 
tion between the poles. It lies in the ignorance 
of the negro. Put him on an educational plane 
where he has the respect of white women, and you 
will have torn away the insulation, for many. There 
will remain only the attraction of the opposites — 
that of the black man for the white woman, and of 
the white woman for the black man. Each loves 
color contrasts. 

RoxANA. Isn't that only a theory? 

Lee. I wish it were. But the fact is that the 
strangeness and mystery of the exotic is subtly allur- 
ing to many women. 

32 



Act I ROXANA 

CoNNERS. I cannot think that a respectable 
American white woman would deliberately mate with 
a negro, no matter how respectable and well-to-do 
he might be. 

Lee. Then let me refer you to Paul Lawrence 
Dunbar's novel, "The Spirit of the Gods." It builds 
upon fact. 

RoxANA. (Rising.) Dunbar was a negro. 
Surely you, Gordon, can put no confidence in him. 

Lee. That is why he got the facts, because he was 
a negro. I believe his book, although it has in- 
creased my hatred of his race. 

{Roxana saunters leisurely outj rear.) 

CoNNERS. I have not read it. 

Lee. But surely, you must know of the na- 
tional scandal in Germany, in which thousands of 
white girls of good family, were found to be carry- 
ing on correspondence with negro natives in the 
Kaiser's African colonies. 

CoNNERS. Yes; I have heard of that. 

Lee. Most of the letters were of a highly amor* 
ous nature. 

CoNNERS. Yes; but the infatuation of the Ger- 
man girls is easily explained. The negro is a favor- 
ite theme among the poets of the fatherland. Ger- 
man poetry often idealizes him. 

Lee. That is just the point. It is possible to 

33 



ROXANA A«t » 

make him acceptable to white women by merely 
idealizing him. This may be done as effectively by 
electing him to the bench, or by sending him to the 
legislature, as by writing poetry about him, 

CoNNERS. His color will always bar him. 

Lee. No. Respectability, and place, and money, 
will make his color a desideratum. They will add 
to his glamour of exotic romance. The Desdemonas 
of the future will not consider themselves as being 
''subdued^* to the "very quality* of their lords. 
(Roxana saunters in, rear,) 

CoNNERS. Then you believe that the education of 
the negro will mean in time a yellow race. {Sits.) 

Lee. a dirty, hybrid, unthinkable brood that 
will be known as Americans. Think of it, Roxana! 
Americans ! 

Roxana. {In pain.) Don't! Don't! 

Lee. Why, Roxana? 

Roxana. It is too — too — uncharitable. President 
Turner of the Lincoln Industrial and Normal In- 
stitute, is a negro. Don't you respect him? 

Lee. I would hang Turner to-morrow and burn 
his school to the ground, with its black students in- 
side it, if I had my way. 

Roxana. {Rises. Very white.) Gordon! How 
monstrous! {Slowly and deeply.) You shall be 
sorry for that. {In pain.) Oh! 

34 



A«t ^ ROXANA 

Lee. (Rising,) Well, you must forgive me. I 
was too warm. I didn't quite mean it all. It's 
the southern blood. (He goes to her, but she 
shrinks from him. He is nettled.) Why do you 
take it so hard, koxana? Look at me! 

RoxANA. (Obediently gazing full upon him for 
a moment, before replying.) I cannot bear to think 
that you could be so inhuman. 

Lee. (Passionatelf.) You are of the North! 
Vou can never understand. (Softer.) I cannot 
help my hatred and contempt, Roxana. It was born 
in me. Forgive me. 

Roxana. (She puts her hands upon his shoul- 
ders.) I do understand, Gordon. fVe must both 
forgive. We cannot help what is born in us. (After 
a moment.) It is our first quarrel. 

CoNNERS. (Exploding.) And all on account of 
a lot of damned niggers! 

Lee. (Bitterly.) It is not the first quarrel they 
have caused. (Earnestly.) It shall be our first 
and last, Roxana. I overstepped myself; but, really, 
if you educate the negro in the South, he will be 
qualified for the suffrage, and gaining political 
power, wealth, influence, and respectability, he will 
make the laws and legalize black and white mar- 
riages, becoming in time a desirable mate for many 
respectable white women. Do you know that in 

35 



ROXANA A" I 

Mississippi there are nine negroes for every seven 
whites? {Sits.) 

CoNNERS. Yes; and in many other states they 
would hold the balance of power. When they shall 
have been given the ballot as the result of education, 
everything will be possible for their race. Though 
exotics, they have become a part of the life-blood of 
the nation. 

RoxANA. They are all native-born Americans. 
Each can trace his American ancestry back as far as 
the Revolutionary War, when the importation of 
the slaves was abolished. 

CoNNERS. (Laughing.) You think they have 
"proved up" so far as residence is concerned, do 
you, Roxana? 

Lee. But what is their fate to be? 

CoNNERS. Perhaps, extermination. 

Roxana. (In horror.) Never that! 

CoNNERS. Or social and racial assimilation. 

Lee. Not as there is a God above us ! 

CoNNERS. It will be one or the other. By the 
way, Roxana, is the new statue to be marble, or 
bronze ? 

Roxana. Bronze, Ralph. 

CoNNERS. I should say bronze was the more ap- 
propriate. 

36 



Act I ROXANA 

RoxANA. Because it is to be placed in a colored 
school ? 

CoNNERS. Yes. 

RoxANA. That is not the reason I prefer bronze 
for the statue, Ralph. 

CoNNERS. Indeed? Then, why? 

RoxANA. Because it is to be the statue of a man. 

Lee. (Sits.) There you have it! A woman's 
innate love of contrast. I suppose, Roxana, you 
should prefer marble for a woman? 

Roxana. Yes, Gordon. 

CoNNERS. You have an artistic reason, of course, 
Roxana. Let us have it. 

Roxana. Because the marble is so white, and 
pure, and soft. It has the translucence of the femi- 
nine. It is for delicate curves, and rounded surfaces. 
It has pretty transitions of light and shade, like the 
soul of a woman. It is for smiles and tears, for 
tenderness and laughter, for yielding flesh and silken 
skin. 

CoNNERS. (Quickly.) And the bronze. 

Lee. (Quickly.) Yes; the bronze! 

Roxana. It is dark, and hard, and rugged. It 
holds the mysterious and mighty forces of the mascu- 
line beneath its opaque form. Its power is within 
itself — intense, masterful, secretive. It imparts no 

37 



ROXANA *«*» 

borrowed lucency. It is of angles and projections. 
It is of sharp corners and deep shadows. It is the 
body and soul of man. 

Lee. (Shuddering.) I do not like it! I prefer 
the marble for both the man and the woman. 

RoxANA. Ah, but you are not an artist, Gordon ! 
I am reminded of a day when I was wandering 
through one of the galleries of the old world. In 
a corner was a bronze Mercury, and a Venus, in 
marble. The dark and naked body of the god con- 
trasted sensitively with the soft, white form of the 
goddess. Her undraped limbs were gently lumin- 
ous. His were tense and shadowy. There in that 
ancient corner, the man and the woman, sculptured 
by a master, seemed yearning for each other. At 
last, they were drawn together in a wild embrace, 
and mingled in my whirling brain — the light with 
the dark, the white with the black. The Marblb 
WITH THE Bronze! 

Lee. (Rises. Trembling and white.) Roxana! 

RoxANA. (Hysterically.) What have I said? 
Oh, what have I done ? 

CoNNERS. (Risen.) Nothing, Roxana! (Turns 
to Lee.) It is the artistic temperament! It was a 
rhapsody ! See ; she does not know what she said. 

Lee. (Still white. Kindly.) Come here, Roxana. 

CoNNERS. (Looking at his watch.) Nearly four! 
By George! Tve got to go! 

38 



Act I ROXANA 

RoxANA. {Near Lee.) Don't hurry, Ralph. 

Lee. Wait, and I'll go with you. 

Conkers. No; I'll drop in on you both to-mor- 
row. Good bye! 

Lee. Au revoir, Ralph! 

RoxANA. Good bye! 

{He goes out rear. Lee draws Roxana to 
the sofa.) 

Lee. Ralph is a dear fellow, Roxana. 

Roxana. He made excuses for my words, didn't 
he, Gordon? 

Lee. Yes; they were very wild. 

Roxana. {Slyly.) The excuses, Gordon? 

Lee. You know I meant the words, you little 
fraud. 

Roxana. {Seriously.) Don't call me a fraud, 
Gordon. 

Lee. Very well, then. You are not a fraud. 

Roxana. I guess Ralph thinks I am. 

Lee. You know he does not. He is merely wary. 

Roxana. Perhaps if he were in love, like you, he 
would not be wary. 

Lee. In love or out, I should trust you, Roxana. 
Perhaps you are testing my love. Perhaps that is 
why you will not tell me of your past. 

39 



ROXANA ^^*^ 

RoxANA. {Adjusting his scarf pin,) Perhaps, it 
is, Gordon. 

Lee. Then it shall stand the test. 

RoxANA. (Fondly serious.) You have never 
doubted me. 

Lee. No; never. 

{She nestles her head in his shoulder, and 
he strokes her hair for a few moments, in 
silence.) 

RoxANA. Gordon! 

Lee. Yes ? 

RoxANA. I am so happy. 

Lee. So am L 

RoxANA. Except that you are going away. 
{Straightens up.) I can hardly bear to think of 
that. 

Lee. {Fondly.) But you are to be my wife be- 
fore I go, Dawn of Day. 

RoxANA. {Starting.) Dawn of Day? 

Lee. Yes; have you forgotten? That is the 
translation of your name. Roxana is from the Per- 
sian. It means dawn of day. 

Roxana. {Laughing.) It sounds like one of the 
names they give Indian maidens. 

Lee. {After a moment.) Can you arrange to 
be married day after to-morrow, Roxana ? 

40 



A'ti ROXANA 

RoxANA. Oh, SO soon, Gordon? We haven't 
even a home prepared. 

Lee. We will plan one together, when I re- 
turn from the Islands. We will build a cozy, little 
bungalow. 

RoXANA. Oh, that will be splendid ! 

Lee. Yes; we should be able to contrive some- 
thing sufficiently outlandish — you and I — the artist 
and the explorer. 

RoxANA. {Putting her hand over his mouth.) 
Oh, you traitor ! Where shall we build it, Gordon ? 

Lee. Near the university. 

RoxANA. How fine that will be. We shall have 
so many friends around us. 

Lee. And I shall not go away again. My pub- 
lishers told me to-day that the present year will 
bring me handsome royalties from my last book. 

RoxANA. You mean that you shall not have to 
go into the field again? 

Lee. Never, after my return. I shall find work 
enough here. I shall have you and our bungalow, 
my library and my pen. 

RoXANA. And an auto. 

Lee. Yes; an auto. I suppose I cannot hope to 
escape all manual labor. 

RoxANA. (Gaily.) What a cozy life we shall 

41 



ROXANA ^^*^ 

lead. I always wanted to marry a literary man. 
They arc so much at home. 

Lee. You may get tired of having me about. 

RoxANA. Indeed not ! I know how you will be, 
cooped up in your den, studying your old Chinese 
manuscripts, and writing about your travels! 

Lee. Then of what use will it be to have me at 
home? 

RoxANA. Just to know that you are there, and 
that only a door or a curtain is between us. 

Lee. But will you not come in and help me with 
my work? 

RoxANA. What could I do, dear? I'm no 
Chinese. 

Lee. (Laughing.) Just the same, we'll make the 
den large enough for two. My wife will be always 
welcome, Chinese or no Chinese. 

RoxANA, That is very sweet of you, Gordon. 

Lee. Isn't it glorious to think of that life, to- 
gether, Roxana? To know that I can remain with 
you always, after my return, and that we shall 
want for nothing. I have not always been free from 
want, Roxana. 

Roxana. (With deep sympathy.) I know. Your 
life has been almost too hard, but think how you 
have won at last. Perhaps if the Civil War hadn't 

bankrupted your people 

42 



Act I ROXANA 

Lee. (Bitterly.) ^my parents might have had 

easier lives. 

RoxANA. Ah, yes; but I didn't quite mean that. 
I meant if you had had plenty always, you might 
never have come north, nor won the education that 
is yours now, nor the financial success that is follow- 
ing your travels and researches. 

Lee. And I might never have known you. 

RoxANA. That is the least of it all. 

Lee. To me, it is the most. You are the dawn, 
after a life of sorrow, and toil, and hardship, my 
Roxana. 

RoXANA. I can never be worthy of you. 

Lee. You little flatterer! 

Roxana. Oh, no! You must not call me that. 
I am not that. (Sadly.) I am only too sincere. 

Lee. No; not too sincere. One can never be 
that. Say you are too lovely, Roxana. 

Roxana. Now, who is the flatterer? 

Lee. We will decide that when we move into our 
bungalow. 

Roxana. (Slyly.) But what is to become of poor 
Mrs. Lee while Mr. Lee is away, and until she has 
her bungalow? 

Lee. (Seriously.) I should prefer that you rc- 

43 



ROXANA A«" 

main here with Mrs. Thorne until my return from 
the Islands, Roxana. Are you not happy here ? 

RoxANA. Very happy. The wedding shall be 
whenever you say, Gordon. 

Lee. TheQ it is decided. Day after to-morrow, 
at noon. It will be a very quiet one, of course. 

Roxana. Yes; I have always preferred a quiet 
wedding. 

Lee. I shall have you as my wife for a month. 
Think of It, Roxana, a whole month! What a 
month it will be. 

Roxana. {Ruefully.) Yes; packing you up to 
send you away from me. 

Lee. Now, now! I tljought you were so happy? 

Roxana. {Nestling in his shoulder.) Oh, I am, 
Gordon! Even If It is to last only a month. 

Lee. Ah; It shall last forever! To me you are 
indeed the dawn of day. 

Roxana. But there will be a long night. It 
will last as long as you are gone — over a year. I 
cannot bear to think of It. 

Lee. It will be a long night for me too, Roxana, 
but there will be a second dawn when I return to 
you. It's day will last to the end of our liveSj 

Roxana. The second dawn will make up for the 
long, long year. 

{Lee kisses her on the forehead.) 

44 



Act I ROXANA 

Lee. And during that long, long year, our artist 
will be very busy, will she not ? 

RoxANA. Yes, I want to do so much, and it will 
help pass the time. 

Lee. Who knows; my wife may be famous when 
I return. 

RoxANA. I want no laurels, Gordon. They 
shall be for you and your sons. I want only your 
love and theirs, and my pride in you and them. 

Lee. You once wanted to become ^a great sculp- 
tor, Roxana. 

RoxANA. I was a girl then. 

Lee. It was not so long ago. 

RoxANA. I am wholly a woman now. There is 
a greater work for me than art. 

Lee. What work? 

RoxANA. My life with you. 

Lee. Why call it work? 

Roxana. Because I want it to be so noble. 

Lee. It shall be a happy one. 

(A hall clock strikes four in slow, deep toned 
notes. Roxana straightens up with a start.) 

Roxana. {To herself .) Four o'clock! 
{Lee rises quickly.) 

Lee. {In alarm.) Roxana, you are shuddering! 
What is the matter? Your hands are cold as ice. 

45 



ROXANA Act I 

RoxANA. (Rallying.) I don't think I am exactly 
well to-day. 

Lee. It is odd. You seemed well. You must 
take more exercise. It is your circulation. 

RoxANA. (Abstractedly.) Yes; perhaps, it is my 
circulation. That's the blood, isn't it? 

Lee. (Alarmed.) Roxana! What ails you? You 
seem stupified ! 

Roxana. (Recovering herself and smiling at him.) 
Do I, dear? I am myself now. (Rises.) 

Lee. (Rises.) Promise me that you will see a 
physician. I hope it is nothing. 

Roxana. Really, it is nothing. It has occurred 
before. (She is gazing at him raptly.) 

Lee. Ah 1 There are the roses again ! It was only 
a little vertigo. (Takes her hands.) Your hands 
are growing warm. 

Roxana. (Looking at her watch.) I think I 
shall lie down after you go, Gordon. 

Lee. By all means! I mustn't keep you. Good 
bye! (Kisses her.) 

Roxana. Don't hurry, Gordon. 
Lee. Yes; I must. 

Roxana. (Anxiously.) But you're coming to- 
night ? 

46 



A<^*i ROXANA 

Lee. Most surely. At eight. 

(Roxana pulls his face down to hers, and 
kisses him, patting his face.) 
Roxana. I hate to have you go. 
Lee. I know, but I must. Now to your room! 
Take a good rest. Good bye! (Kisses her.) 
Roxana. Good bye, dear! Till to-night. 

(Lee goes to the door, rear, turns, blows 
her a kiss, which she returns, and goes 
out. 
(Roxana goes to the window as the outer 
door is heard to close. Her face is pen- 
sive. Suddenly, she smiles and wafts a kiss 
through the window.) 
Roxana. ( Still watching at the window.) Good 
bye, Gordon! 

(She waits a few moments longer and turns 
from the window with a sigh. She goes 
to the push-button. After a moment, Ella 
enters, left.) 
Ella. Yes, Miss Roxie! 
Roxana. Is Mr. Wellington here? 
Ella. He is waiting; in the kitchen. We have 
been talking for some time. Has Mr. Lee gone? 

Roxana. Yes; he went through the park. I 
watched him from the window. 

Ella. (Alarmed.) You are ill, Mis,s Roxie! 
47 



ROXANA ^'^^ 

RoxANA. I feel strange, Ella. Wait. {She seems 
to be listening.) 

Ella. Oh, what Is It, Miss Roxle? You don't 
look natural. You are scaring me ! Are you afraid ? 
RoxANA. Yes. 

Ella. There's no one here but 

{The hook that Lee has set on edge on the 
table, and which he has forgotton, falls 
suddenly and loudly on its side.) 
Ella and Roxana. {With a quick intake,) 
Ahhh! 

{They look at each other for a moment, in 
fear. Ella goes to the table.) 
Roxana. What was It ? 

Ella. {At table.) This book. {Holds it up, 
smiling nervously.) Something jarred it. It was 
standing on edge when I came in. 

Roxana. I did not notice it. What is it? 
Ella. {Examining title.) "The Scarlet Letter." 
Roxana. {Listlessly.) Mrs. Thorne must have 
been reading It. 

Ella. {Putting down book.) Shall I show Mr. 
Wellington In? 
Roxana. Yes Ella. 

{Ella leaves, left. Roxana crosses stealthily 
to the window, and peers out.) 
(the curtain falls.) 

48 



ACT SECOND. 



The same room. 

Roxana is still at the window. Voices are heard in 
the hall, left. She turns from the window ex- 
pectantly. 

Ella. (Her voice is heard in the hall, left.) Be 
careful ! The hall is rather dark. It must be going 
to rain. {She stands at side of doorway, left.) 
Right this way, sir. Miss Roxana is in here. 

Roxana. {Stepping toward left.) Come in, Wel- 
lington ! 

{Wellington Turner, a tall and well pro- 
portioned negro, of forty-five, enters, left. 
He is dressed simply and in good taste, his 
clothes being neither new nor shabby. His 
bearing is modest, but sure.) 
Turner. Ah, Roxana! 

Roxana. {Clasps his outstretched hands, putting 
up her face to be kissed.) I'm so glad you've come. 
{He kisses her, and they come forward. Ella goes 
out, left.) 

Turner. I had to hurry to keep my appoint- 
ment with you. The lecture managers were de- 

49 



ROXANA Act II 

layed in making their settlement with me. At first, 
I thought I should be late. 

RoxANA. The lecture was excellent, Wellington. 
Last night as I sat listening to you, I was so proud 
of you, and of your work. It was glorious to see the 
admiration and esteem that your white audience 
showed you. 

Turner. (Raises her chin.) I fear the lecture 
kept you up too late, Roxana. You are quite pale 
to-day. Or, perhaps you are working too hard. 

Roxana. It is neither, Wellington. {After a 
moment,) I fear it is the strain of keeping up 
appearances. And then I have something new to 
tell you. You may not like it. It is my great se- 
cret, but to-day, you shall know. That is why I 
sent for you — so as to see you and tell you before you 
leave again for the South. 

Turner. A secret, eh? Well, what is it? {Sits.) 
Is it possible you have already made the preliminary 
model for the statue ? 

Roxana. Oh, not yet, Wellington! The plan- 
ning of the statute will take time. Think what it 
is to be ! The embodiment of the spirit of the negro 
of the future — of your spirit, Wellington — the spirit 
of progress, and study, and energy, and achievement ! 
Ah, but it was glorious to receive the commission, 
and it will be more glorious still to breathe your 

50 



A't " RQXANA 

spirit into the dark clay. How I shall make it live 
and glow, so that when it is cast into the bronze, 
it will send inspiration and ambition into the hearts 
and minds of the dusky students who will see it, for 
the first time, standing at the foot of the great stair- 
way, as they enter your school! It was wonderful 
to me when you and your board selected me to 
make the statue. When your letter came, notifying 
me, it was the proudest moment of my life. Ah, 
Wellington, to think that / am to make the statue of 
Hermes for your school! 

Turner. Do you not think it will be a grand 
sight for me, Roxana, to see it there every day, and 
to know that it was your hands and your brain that 
fashioned it? 

Roxana. {Goes toward him.) And for me to 
know that it is there, and that you are pleased with 
it! Oh, I shall work hard — ^very hard. 

Turner. Not too hard, honey. You must re- 
member what all work and no play did for Jack. 

Roxana. Ah, but Jack couldn't have loved his 
work, or it wouldn't have made him dull, even if 
he didn't get a chance to play. 

Turner. You could never be dull, Roxana. 

Roxana. {With a curtsy.) Thank you! 

Turner. {Smiles; then becomes serious.) I am 

51 



ROXANA A'* ° 

glad you love your work, but do you love it better 
than all else, Roxana? 

RoxANA. Hov^^ oddly you asked that, Welling- 
ton. 

Turner. {Places his hands on her shoulders.) 
If you should be compelled to give up everything 
you valued most in life, Roxana, could you turn to 
your w^ork and find joy there, without the rest. 

Roxana. (Starts back suddenly.) Without the 
rest? What do you mean? 

Turner. You spoke of the strain of keeping up 
appearances. Suppose they should be suddenly 
broken dovs^n — these appearances, and that the w^orld 
should know all — could you turn to your work with 
joy, and give up all ? 

Roxana. Not with joy, Wellington; with resig- 
nation, perhaps, but not with joy — there would not 
be joy even in work then, when the ostracism comes. 
But it must not come! (Turns to him brightly.) 
Anyway, what's the use of crossing bridges before 
one comes to them? 

Turner. But the strain ! It must be great. 

Roxana. (Anxiously.) It is unceasing. 

Turner. Then why endure it? 

Roxana. (Astounded.) Why endure it? 

Turner. Yes.; I wish you'd give it all up, 
Roxana. 

52 



Act II ROXANA 

RoxANA. Give it all up? Give up the appear- 
ances? Ah, if people should know the truth, what 
would become of me't {She holds his coat lapels.) 

Turner. {Takes her face in his hands.) You 
would make your home with me. 

RoxANA. Yes; with you! That would be all 
right, if it were with you only, but the others — 
Ugh! I could not shun them. {Turns away.) 

Turner. There would be no need. You would 
live for them, as I do. 

RoxANA. Dear Wellington, it is all impossible, 
just now. {Sadly.) Perhaps, sometime, but not 
now. No; not now! 

Turner. But, Roxana — 

RoxANA. Now, don't! Please don't. Here! 
{She smiles at him, and reaches for a rose in the vase 
on the table.) Let me put this in your button-hole. 
{Turner remains silent and resignedly sur- 
renders his coat lapel. He casually picks up 
Lees book, "The Scarlet Letter/') 

Turner. The "Scarlet Letter," eh? 

RoxANA. {Shaking the water from the rose.) 
Yes; you dear old book-worm. {She tries to pin the 
rose upon him, but the book is in the way. Roxana 
frowns prettily.) That book is of course more in- 
teresting than my rose. Put it down, I say! Here! 

53 



RQXANA A«* " 

{He puts down the bookj with a smile, and 
she fastens the rose upon his coat lapel; 
then stands off to admire him,) 
Turner. Well, are you satisfied ? 
RoxANA. Yes, indeed ! And you mustn't talk any 
more about my leaving here. {She goes to him and 
again takes hold of his lapels,) Promise me! 

Turner. Well, perhaps I'll not mention it again, 
to-day. 

RoxANA. No; you must never mention it again, 
ever. Promise ! 

{She pulls him down and kisses him full on 
the lips. Simultaneously, Lee comes head- 
long into the room, rear.) 

Lee. My book, Roxana! I left it 

RoxANA. {Shrieks.) Ohhh! 

{She springs away from Turner and comes 
forward slightly, with her back toward 
Lee. Her face is uplifted, her eyes, half 
closed, and her hands clenched tightly. 
She trembles like an aspen.) 
Lee. {Rushing at Turner.) You black hound! 
(Roxana steps in front of Turner, who 
stands his ground, her hands outstretched 
to push Lee back.) 
RoXANA. {In a tense, dry whisper,) No, Gor- 
don ! You must not ! 

54 



Act II ROXANA 

Lee. {Shrinks back, weak and unnerved as he 

looks into her face,) You you {Quick and 

dry.) Oh, Roxana! 

{He backs away toward the door at back, 
gazing at her as if transfixed. Turner 
watches them.) 

Roxana. {Piteously.) Gordon! 

Lee. {Screams.) No, no! Don't you speak! 
Don't you speak ! {He backs further away. In hor- 
ror.) It's the marble and the bronze! 

{She steps toward him in yearning and anguish; he 
has reached the door at back.) No, no, I say! Let 
me alone. {Puts his hands to his head, while they 
watch him, tensely.) Roxana! {Dully; with a va- 
cant look.) I must be alone. Let me alone. 
{He goes out, rear.) 

Roxana. {She stands shuddering, suffering with 
clenched hands and closed eyes.) He has gone — 
he has gone. Ohhh! He thinks It Is the marble, 
and the bronze ! 

{The outer door is heard to close.) 

Turner. {Sternly.) Roxana, who was that 
man? 

Roxana. Gordon Lee. 

Turner. He loves you. 

Roxana. {In pain.) Yes. 

Turner. {Less sternly.) And you love him. 

55 



RQXANA ^^* ^ 

RoXANA. Oh, yes. 

Turner. Why have you not informed me of 
this before? 

RoxANA. I was afraid. 

Turner. Afraid ? 

RoxANA. Until to-day. That was my secret. 

Turner. Your secret f 

RoxANA. Yes; the one I was about to tell you. 

Turner. Yes; I remember. But why were you 
afraid ? 

RoxANA. I thought you would oppose it. Be- 
sides, he hates our race. 

Turner. Tell me how far this has gone. 

RoxANA. I have given him my hand. 

Turner. My poor child! Then he thinks I am 
your 

Roxana. Oh, yes! Don't say it! It is too hor- 
rible! 

{The rain-storm breaks outside, against the 
window.) 

Turner. He does not suspect I am your brother? 

Roxana. Oh, of course not! How could he? He 
would not have me if he knew. 

{She goes to the window , shuts it, and stands 
looking out.) 

56 



Act II ROXANA 

Turner. You will have to tell him, now. 

RoXANA. {Pityingly, still looking out.) There 
he goes, walking so slowly — so slowly. (Moans.) 
Ohh! But he is suffering! See how he clenches 
his hands and looks up into the rain. {Her voice is 
tearful.) He doesn't mind the rain, Wellington. 
He doesn't know, my poor, poor boy. {Hailstones 
beat against the window panes.) Hear! It is hail- 
ing, and his hat is gone. The hailstones are beating 
down upon his head. {She runs frantically to her 
brother.) Wellington, he musn't think that of me! 
It is too cruel ! It is too awful ! I must go to him ! 
I must explain! {She catches up a throw from the 
couch, and runs to the window.) He is sitting down 
on a bench in the park. {Anguished.) Gordon, my 
love! {Turns toward rear.) I'll go to him now! 
{She covers her head with the throw and 
starts hastily out.) 

Turner. {Calmly.) I shall wait here. 

RoxANA. {In terror.) No, no! He must not see 
you. 

Turner. {Kindly.) He has seen me. You are 
upset, my girl. 

RoxANA. Ah, to be sure ! He has seen you, and 
I was about to tell him you are my brother. I am 
indeed upset. 

Turner. Then you are not going to tell him? 

57 



ROXANA A«t« 

RoxANA. Of course not. Then he would know. 

Turner. Yes; he would know that I am your 
brother. 

RoxANA. And that I am of the bronze. He 
hates the bronze. 

Turner. The bronze ? 

RoxANA. {Glancing fearfully at the door,) 
You'd better go, Wellington. 

Turner. Go! Why? 

RoxANA. Because he will return. Gordon will 
come back. He is stunned and unnerved. {Fear- 
fully.) But it won't last. Wellington, you must 
go! When he comes back, he will come back to 
kill. 

Turner. I will not go, Roxana. (Goes to- 
ward her,) My child, if you ever needed me, you 
need me now. 

RoxANA. No; I do not need you. All that I 
ask is that you go. 

Turner. And what then? 

RoxANA. Just leave him to me, Wellington. I 
want to be alone with him. There is a way out. 
There must be a way out. 

Turner. Roxana, there is only one way out. 

Roxana. Yes; what is that? 

Turner. Tell him I am your brother. 

58 



^^t " ROXANA 

RoXANA. {Tearfully,) Why then he would 
know of my colored blood. He would hate me as 
he hates the rest of our race. He would hate me 
worse for having deceived him. He would give me 
up. 

Turner. {Very firm.) Nevertheless, you must 
tell him. There is no other way. 

RoxANA. You must not say that! Why is there 
no other way? 

Turner. Because, if you do not tell him I am 
your brother, what excuse is there for your having 
shown me the endearment which he saw? 

RoxANA. I do not want an excuse. I do not 
need one. He will forgive what he saw, but he 
would not forgive my blood. 

Turner. {Sternly.) He will forgive you, think- 
ing that you are a white woman, and knowing that 
you have thrown yourself into the arms of a negro? 

RoxANA. Yes. 

Turner. It is preposterous! 

RoxANA. He will forgive me. I Jknow he will 
forgive me. 

Turner. {Sternly,) He shall not forgive you. 

RoXANA. {Defiantly.) He shall not? 

Turner. {Very firm.) No; he shall not! 

RoxANA. Oh, you would not 

59 



ROXANA A't « 

Turner. He shall not think that you are that 
kind of a woman. 

RoxANA. It is better than being a negress. He 
would give me up if he knew I were a negress. 

Turner. Then you would rather appear as a 
shameless white woman in his eyes, than as an honor- 
able colored girl? 

RoxANA. What do I care, Wellington, so long 
as I, myself, know that I am faithful? {Glances to- 
ward window.) Oh, Wellington, you must go! 

Turner. I cannot, until I have told him myself 
who and what you are. 

Roxana. No, no; you shall not do that! He 
must not know it. He 

Turner. (Strong.) Be still! Are you insane? 
Can you believe that I would permit him to think 
what he will think of you and me? 

Roxana. But, Wellington 

Turner. Hush! It is too shameless! (Pauses, 
looking full at her for a moment without speaking.) 
And you could let him think he was forgiving you 
that? 

Roxana. (Wildly.) Don't look at me like that, 
Wellington ! I am pure. I did no wrong. Oh, I 
have done no wrong! 

Turner. He would not believe that. The cir- 
cumstances are too much against you. 
60 



*<=* ° ROXANA 

RoxANA. (Moans.) I have done no wrong. 

Turner. But you want him to think you have, 
and to forgive you. And you want him to think all 
this of your own brother ! 

RoxANA. It cannot be helped. Can't you see it 
cannot be helped? He must not know of the taint 
in my blood. 

Turner. (Proudly.) The taint? 

RoxANA. (Shamed.) He would call it that. 

Turner. (In disdain.) Indeed! 

RoxANA. Wellington, don't be angry with me! 

Turner. How is it you can love a man who 
hates the race that is a part of you ? 

RoxANA. Who may artswer that? / do not 
know. Perhaps, there is something in my white 
blood where his prejudice finds an echo, and where 
there is a kindred loathing of the black, to which, in 
me, the white is b^und by a cruel fate. Perhaps it 
is the servility of the black blood in me that makes 
me admire its tormentor. (Lower and harder.) 
And perhaps, deep down in my heart where the hot 
African blood is always surging, surging, there is a 
feeling of revenge, a determination to bring this hater 
of a part of me down to my own level, though I love 
him. 

Turner. That is not right! You do not love 
him then. 

6i 



ROXANA ^^* ^^ 

RoXANA. (Smiles sadly.) I do not love him? 
Ah, you do not know how much I love him! 

Turner. Then how can you bring him to what 
you consider a lower level ? 

RoxANA. I am a woman, Wellington. 

Turner. Does that excuse you for bringing sor- 
row and chagrin upon the head of the man you love 
— a foolish, ill considered vengeance ? 

RoxANA. Oh, I do not know that it is that ! I 
said perhaps it was. He might never learn the truth, 
but / should know, and in that would lie my satis- 
faction and revenge. Wellington, don't you under- 
stand ? There is fighting inside me ! 

Turner. (Musingly.) And besides that, you 
would let him believe what he will of me. 

RoxANA. Oh, please go! Won't you consider 
my ambitions, my social position, everything? 

Turner. Am / not to be considered ? Have I 
no manhood? No self respect? No position? No 
character? Must I sacrifice all these to your mad 
love, Roxana? 

RoxANA. (Wincing.) Oh, don't call it that. 
Don't 

Turner. Must / sail under false colors because 
you wish to do so? 

RoxANA. (Passionately J False colors! Yes; 
62 



A"* « ROXANA 

that's it! / must always sail under false colors. If 
I associate with the whites, I must keep secret the 
fact that I have colored blood. If I go with the 
blacks, my fair skin falsely proclaims me a white 
woman among negroes, with all the curiosity and 
odium that such an association excites in the minds 
of all who see it. 

Turner. I 

RoxANA. Listen! You should be the last man, 
Wellington, to reproach me for sailing under false 
colors. You have aided me in every way to establish 
myself among the white people. You have been 
proud of my success. That my colored origin might 
not be discovered, you have willingly surrendered 
those rights of familiar and open association with me 
which a brother ought to possess. You have not come 
to see me unless I have sent for you, notifying you 
that the coast was clear, and then you have humbled 
yourself in every way that our relationship might 
remain hidden, meeting me here secretly, and in the 
garden back of the house. No, Wellington, it is not 
for you to reproach me for sailing under false colors. 
(Softly, as she goes to him.) Now that I have made 
friends who are very dear to me, you want me to 
give them up. (Tearfully.) Give up my friends 
— my cultured home — my social place — my love — 
everything! (Sobbing.) It is too cruel! It is too 
impossible! Wellington, I cannot! I cannot! 

63 



ROXANA *'* " 

Turner. Why give up your home and friends? 
I ask you only to tell Lee that I am your brother. 
While he will give you up, he will not tell what 
you have told him, if he loves you. He will keep 
your secret, if he is a man. 

RoxANA. He is a man. He would not betray 
me. 

Turner. Then who would ? 

RoXANA. I, Wellington. I should betray my- 
self! 

Turner. You ? 

RoxANA. Yes; oh, don't you understand? When 
I tell him, and lose him, I lose all. I could not keep 
my secret. Do you think it is an easy thing to keep 
it from everyone? Don't you realize the tact, the 
vigilance, and the strain that it takes to keep my 
secret safe from all ? 

Turner. I know. That is why 

RoxANA. Wait, Wellington! I am asked many 
questions. I sense vague suspicions. So far, I have 
passed them all, but a slight misstep would send me 
back into the abyss. Do you think that in the dull, 
drab, misty days when Gordon shall have forsaken 
me that I can still pick my way clear of the chasms — 
that I can still guard my secret from the world? 
Ah, no ! I should not have the heart to keep up the 
journey. I should stumble and fall, my secret would 

64 



A^t 11 ROXANA 

become known, and then I should sink back among 
my kind, into the deep, black depths. 

Turner. {Hurt.) Are they so bad as that ? / 
am a part of them, Roxana. 

RoxANA. {In pain.) Oh, forgive me! I say 
nothing against our people, Wellington. I love them 
and my heart goes out to them in their ignorance 
and poverty. You are trying to lift them out of it 
all. Your work is grand, noble, self-sacrificing. 
{Tenderly.) I am jo proud of you. {With self- 
loathing.) But / — What am I? A liar and a 
cheat! Because you have been good enough to help 
me, I have lifted myself into the white race. I have 
all of its advantages. But I am selfish and un- 
worthy. I deserve none of them. I am ungrateful 
even to you, my brother, and I have deceived the man 
I love. {She goes to the window.) Ah, he is still 
there; still there! 

Turner. Little sister {He has approached 

her.) 

Roxana. {She pushes him back frantically.) 
Keep away! He will see you! It might drive him 
to some rash act. 

Turner. {Retreating.) Yes; you are right. 

Roxana. {Softly.) Now, go on. Tell me what 
you were going to say. 

Turner. Only that I am more to blame than 

65 



ROXANA Act 11 

you, for I should have foreseen this day. When you 
were born, we were all proud of your fair skin, and 
as you grew up I saw it would be possible for you to 
pass as a white woman. I did not question the ethics 
of the thing. I wanted to see you, my sister, asso- 
ciating with the whites only. I wanted you to have 
their advantages and their esteem. It was then that 
I decided to send you to college here, after your 
preparatory schooling, and it was I who coached you 
in keeping your secret — ^yes ; I see it now — in deceiv- 
ing your friends. You see, I wish to take all the 
blame. 

RoxANA. / will take the blame, Wellington. 

Turner. The blame is mine. That is why the 
punishment will fall heaviest upon me. 

RoxANA. The punishment? 

Turner. Yes, in seeing you suffer for my folly. 

RoxANA. Then I am to suffer? 

Turner. You must give up your secret, Roxana. 
It will be easier to do it now than later. Every day 
that you put off revealing it, will add to your suffer- 
ings when the final exposure comes. I wish you to 
tell Lee first; then a few of your nearest friends; 
and then you shall go back to the South with me. 
It will be best for us all. It is the only honorable 
thing to do. 

66 



Art II ROXANA 

RoxANA. {Very white.) Then I am to give up 
all? 

Turner. Yes. 

RoxANA. Oh, how can I ? How can I ? 

Turner. {Very firm,) It must be done. 

RoxANA. {Looks round room slowly.) To give 
up all! {Looks out of window.) To give him up! 
To give up my friends! {Goes to a large photo- 
graph, framed, on the wall. Tearfully.) These are 
my girl friends, Wellington — our graduating class. 
See! Here is Ruth Hayes. She's married now. I 
often visit her and she calls here. Ah, to give up 
Ruth ! It is too hard ! ( Goes to table and picks up 
picture of a mother and baby, in a silver frame.) 
Here she is again, Wellington — her baby, too. {Sets 
picture down, and picks up another.) And here is 
Edith Scott. Her father is the famous surgeon. 
Edith and I are chums. She's away now, and when 
she comes back, it will be to learn that I — {Her voice 
catches.) that I have gone — forever. {She sinks into 
a chair beside the table and buries her face in her 
arms upon it.) 

Turner. {Putting his hand upon her head.) My 
dear, little sister! 

Roxana. {Sobbingly raising her face to look up 
at him.) Oh, Wellington, I can't do it! I can't 
do it ! To give up all my dear, dear friends ! What 

67 



ROXANA Act II 

is there in your race to take their place? Only 
woolly headed, grotesque negresses. How could I 
associate with them? (She rises quickly.) No! It 
is all impossible ! Hopelessly impossible ! Don't you 
see that it is? Oh, can't you see that it is? 

Turner. {Quietly j but firm,) It is no more 
impossible to-day than it will be a year from to-day. 

RoxANA. But why a year from to-day? Why 
ever? 

Turner. Because color will out. 

RoxANA. (Startled.) That's what they say of 
murder. 

Turner. It is true of anything that is wrong- 
fully concealed. 

RoxANA. Then, Wellington, once and for all, 
you insist that I must tell? 

Turner. (Firmly.) Yes ; it will be best in the 
end. 

RoxANA. {As if to herself .) In the end! Yes; 
it «;/// be best in the end. {To him.) But, Wel- 
lington, the end must come soon. 

Turner. {Startled.) The end? 

RoxANA. Yes ; do you think I could live on, after 
all is known ? 

Turner. Roxanal 

RoxANA. {Quickly.) I shall tell Gordon Lee 

68 



Act II ROXANA 

that you, Wellington, with your thick lips, brown 
skin, and kinky hair, are my brother. I will do this 
to save your manhood and self-respect, xlt all means 
so much more to you than my secret does to me. 

Turner. {Hurt.) Roxana! 

RoxANA. Oh, yes ! I will tell him. And for my 
pains, he will say to me: "Can you stand there with 
your fair skin and tell me that? Your hair is soft 
and straight ; your nostrils, narrow ; your nose, aqui- 
line ; and your lips as fine as those of a Roman god- 
dess. Roxana, you lie ! {Wildly.) Wellington, he 
would not believe me ! It would all be lost ! 

Turner. No, Roxana, it would not be lost. Lee 
knows the caprices and persistence of the races when 
the blood is mixed. He would know that I, a colored 
man, and you, as fair as you are, could have been 
both born of the same parents, if they had had colored 
blood. Mother was an octoroon ; father, a quadroon, 
you know. 

Roxana. {Bitterly.) Yes ; I know ! I wish they 
had never married. Then I should not be here. Ah, 
to give up all ! To give up life itself ! 

Turner. {Anxiously, as if to himself,) She must 
not do that. 

Roxana. {Fiercely.) Yes, I will do that! I 
will tell all! I will tell about the negro taint that 
lies under my fair skin. Ugh ! How it disgusts me ! 

69 



ROXANA A'tn 

To be so foul ! How I hate myself ! How I despise 

and loathe myself Do you hear me ? loathe 

and despise myself, as if I were unclean. I am un- 
clean, bodily and morally unclean — a negress and a 
liar. But I will make reparation ! I will go to them 
all and say: Look on me, Roxana Holmes, your white 
friend ! Her real name is Turner, for she is a liar 
and a cheat. She is fair without, but foul within! 
She is a whited sepulcher — a negress, by her blood ! 

Turner. Roxana, 

Roxana. No; don't stop me! (She rushes for the 
Tibetan dagger j hung by the window on the wall.) 
And when I have told them all, I shall — {She raises 
the dagger.) 

Turner. {Springing forward and trying to catch 
her upraised hand.) No, no! Not that! 

Roxana. {Calmly putting her hands behind her, 
and stepping out of his reach.) — kill myself. {She 
looks apprehensively out of the window, then starts 
wildly toward Turner.) Wellington! Wellington! 
Gordon is coming back. See, he is running! You 
must fly. He is coming to kill you. I knew he 
would! Oh, I knew he would! {She pushes him 
frantically toward the door, left.) Oh, go on I Go 
on! Don't hang back like that! Run! Oh, do 
run! 

Turner. {Restraining her.) No! I shall wait 
here while you tell him. 

70 



Act II ROXANA 

RoxANA. You must not ! He would kill you ! 
Turner. (Grimly.) So easily? 
RoXANA. One of you might be killed ! Oh, you 
mustn't fight here. Think of it 1 In Mrs. Thome's 
home? (Frantically.) Go! Go!! Go!!! 

Turner. (Coolly.) I cannot leave you, Roxana. 
Lee is mad with rage and jealousy. He may try to 
kill you! 

Roxana. Oh, why don't you go ? You will pro- 
tect me best that way. Take the kitchen door! 
( Pushes him, screaming wildly. ) The kitchen door ! 
The kitchen door! 

Turner. (Very firm.) I will not go. 
Roxana. Then look! (She runs to the other 
side of the table and raises the dagger above her 
breast. Tensely.) li you take a step toward me — 
if you don't go at once — 

Turner. (Shrieking.) No, no! Don't do that! 
I will go. (Steps quickly to left; stands at thres- 
hold. Fervently.) God keep you! (Goes out, left.) 
(Roxana steals to the window, the dagger 
still in her hand. She looks out anxiously, 
turns instantly, and faces the door at rear. 
Some moments go by. A door is heard to 
close. A moment more and Lee quickly 
enters the room, rear. He is bareheaded, 
disheveled, and wet. His face is haggard, 

71 



ROXANA *«*" 

but set and determined. He looks around 
the room, seeing Roxana last.) 

Lee. (Starts slightly, then takes a step toward 
her,) Where has he gone? 

Roxana. I do not know. 

Lee. You He ! 

Roxana. {Going toward him.) You have come 
to kill him? 

Lee. Yes. 

Roxana. (Appealingly.) Kill me! (She holds 
out the dagger, handle toward him, her face shad- 
owed with anguish and love.) 

Lee. {Recoils from dagger. Looks her over 
from head to foot, finally studying her face.) Kill 
you? {Turns from her sadly.) No; I could not 
kill you. 

Roxana. {Going slightly toward him.\ But 
you must not kill him! 

Lee. {Wheels upon her.) You would protect 
him, eh ! Your blackamoor ! 

Roxana. {Recoiling.) Oh! 

{She sinks into a chair, with her arms on its 
back, and her face buried in them.) 

Lee. {Strong.) Where is he? Where is your 
negro lover? 

Roxana. {After an inward struggle.) He has 
gone. 

22 



*<=* " ROXANA 

Lee. (Standing over her and grasping her wrist 
violently.) So you admit that this black coward is 
your lover? 

RoxANA. I did not say so. 

Lee. {He releases her hand. Bitterly.) You 
do not have to say so. I have eyes. {She sits mo- 
tionless.) Why don't you speak? Why don't you 
say something? Can't you see you are driving me 
mad? 

RoxANA. {Dully.) You have eyes, Gordon. 
Lee. Do you mean to taunt me? {He grasps 
her wrist angrily.) 

RoxANA. {She looks up at him tearlessly.) You 
are hurting me, Gordon. 

(He releases her hand and she again buries 

her face in her arms, on the back of the 

chair.) 

Lee. Ah, you have made a fiend of me! Have 

you no defense? Nothing to say? Can you only 

sit there and mope? 

(She does not answer. He stands looking 
down upon her in scorn for some mo- 
ments.) 
Lee. (Bullying.) Well, sit there! Sit there! 
RoXANA. (She does not move; she is the picture 
of abject despair.) 

Lee. (Shaking his head sneeringly.) You look 
your part. 

73 



ROXANA A^* " 

RoXANA. {She does not stir.) 

Lee. (Short.) Get up! 

RoxANA. (She remains motionless.) 

Lee. Get up, I say! (He raises her head and 
arms from the chair.) Now tell me all. 

RoXANA. Oh, no! (Buries her face in her arms 
on the chair again.) 

Lee. By Heaven, you shall talk! (Seizes her 
again.) 

RoxANA. Gordon, don't be so cruel! (He 
winces and releases her.) 

Lee. (In disgust of himself and her.) Ah, you 
have made a brute of me ! 

RoxANA. No one could blame you. 

Lee. You can pity me, can you? 

RoxANA. (Quietly.) Yes ; I do pity you. It must 
be very hard to bear. 

Lee. (With a grim smile.) Hard to bear! 
After you have made me love you? After I have 
put all my trust in you ? After I have asked you to 
become — Oh, God ! No ; it is not hard to bear. 

RoxANA. (In agony, to herself.) My heart is 
breaking ! 

Lee. (Fiercely.) Then you love me I Yow have 
loved me! 

RoXANA. (With a cry.) Oh, yes! Yes! 

74 



Act 11 ROXANA 

Lee. But how could you ? How could you ? 

RoXANA. How could I have loved you ? 

Lee. Yes! And permit this black hound to — 

RoxANA. Oh, what you think is a lie — a hor- 
rible, wicked lie! 

Lee. {With tactful kindness.) Indeed? Then 
tell me about it all — everything. 

RoXANA. {She remains silent.) 

Lee. {Bending over her.) If you love me! 
Make a beginning. Say something. 

RoxANA. {In despair.) Oh, Gordon, what de- 
fense have I, after what you saw? 

Lee. Say something, anyway. 

RoxANA. You would not believe anything that 
I might say. 

Lee. Leave that to me. 

RoxANA. {Looking him full in the eyes.) There 
was nothing wrong. 

Lee. Nothing wrong! 

RoxANA. Do you doubt me ? 

Lee. {Dazed.) Do I doubt you? 

RoxANA. Only a little while ago — {Her voice 
wavers.) — to-day — here in this room, you said that 
you had never doubted me, and that you never 
should. 

75 



ROXANA A<*n 

Lee. (Brightens hopefully.) Perhaps you can 
explain all! Perhaps, it was some foolish test, or 
harmless whim, or an illusion. Ah, Roxana, if it 
were only that ! If it were only a momentary, mean- 
ingless caprice or a distortion of my brain! Your 
lips did not meet the black's! I did not see you in 
his arms! 

Roxana. Yes, Gordon ! You saw those things. 
They are all true. 

Lee. (In anguish.) Oh, God! (Hopefully.) 
But, perhaps there is something innocent behind it 
all. (Dully.) No, no! I am a fool. It is enough. 
You are condemned. You could never explain such 
a thing. 

Roxana. No ; I will not explain. 

Lee. (Suspiciously.) You will not explain ? Why 
will you not explain? (Hard.) You must tell 
everything ; yes, to the last rotten word. 

Roxana. (Sadly.) I can tell nothing. 

Lee. (In a jealous rage.) Thep you are really 
guilty of a filthy liaison ? 

Roxana. No, no! It was not that! 

Lee. (He sneers.) 

Roxana. (In total despair.) Ohhh! 

Lee. (He looks at her for a moment, the sneer 
changing to pity.) Then, tell me, what it was, 

76 



Art n ROXANA 

(He drops to his knees beside her.) though it breaks 
my heart. 

RoxANA. Gordon, I cannot! 

Lee. Yes; you must tell me. (He tries to turn 
her head so that she will look at him. Pleads.) 
Roxana, tell me — tell me ! 

RoxANA. (Rising. Firmly.) No. 

Lee. (Rising. Angrily.) By Heaven, you shall 
tell me ! Every hideous detail ! 

Roxana. No, Gordon. 

Lee. (Grasps her hands, restraining himself 
with an effort.) Roxana, you are exasperating. 
(Through closed teeth.) I could tear you limb from 
limb! 

Roxana. You are hurting me, Gordon. 

Lee. I do not care. I must know the truth. 
Has that man been here before to-day? 

Roxana. Yes. 

Lee. (Haggard.) How many times? 

Roxana. I do not know. 

Lee. Twice? (She does not answer.) Five 
times? (She sets her lips. He throws down her 
hands in wild impatience.) Oh, God! (He walks 
away, then turns and comes toward her.) What is 
his name? (She does not answer.) I seem to have 
seen him before. Ah, Roxana! I have it! (In 

77 



ROXANA A«*n 

gathering grimness and anger.) He is Wellington 
Turner, the man you are making the statue for! 
{Scathingly.) So that is why he gave you the com- 
mission! {She winces and turns from him.) The 
educated negro, Wellington Turner. {Strong.) 
Does this not prove what we of the South know? 
That the possession of a white woman is the negro's 
constant dream, that what the black brute takes by 
force, the black scholar gains by stealth! 

RoXANA. (With indignation.) Ypu wrong him, 
and you wrong me! Where is your boasted south- 
ern chivalry, Gordon Lee, that you can believe your 
white women so ready to consort with negroes? 

Lee. Thank God, it is not true of all! 
{Quickly.) Do you want my authority? Then you 
shall have it: Burton's "Arabian Nights," Shakes- 
peare's "Othello," Dunbar's "Spirit of the Gods," 
Dawson's "African Nights," Phillip's "A Question 
of Color!" Are they enough? If not, I have the 
evidence of my own eyes to-day. 

RoxANA. {She goes to him.) Gordon! Look at 
me. {He looks deeply into her eyes.) There was 
nothing wrong to-day. 

Lee. {In amazement.) Your eyes are clear and 
steady. Your face is as fine and beautiful as truth 
itself. What can it all mean? You look so pure 
and innocent! 

78 



Act II ROXANA 

RoxANA. Gordon, in the way you mean, no 
woman could be more innocent and pure than I. 

Lee. But you will tell me nothing ! 

RoxANA. (Sadly.) Nothing. 

Lee. (Earnestly.) Roxana, I cannot doubt you, 
but I must solve this thing. You must help me. 
Sit down. (She sits beside the table.) Wel- 
lington Turner was here to see you about the statue 
of Hermes for his school. (He pauses. She remains 
silent.) There was nothing else to bring him here. 

Roxana. (Quickly.) No; there was nothing 
wrong. 

Lee. You had finished your business regarding 
the statue, and he began telling you of his work, in 
which you sympathize. He unfolded his magnifi- 
cent schemes for upbuilding his race ; and you, over- 
come and dazzled by his seeming greatness, and out 
of gratitude for what he had done for you in giving 
you the commission for the statue, threw yourself 
upon him, as foolish women often do when con- 
fronted by great public men, or national heroes. 

Roxana. (Smiling at him.) Do you think I 
am the kind of woman to Hobsonize anyone, Gor- 
don? 

Lee. ( Takes her hands and smiles grayly; then 
sinks to her feet.) I am out of my mind! (In- 
tensely.) Tell me! Tell me why you did it, or I'll 

79 



ROXANA A«* " 

go mad. Can't you see the pain you are causing? 
Tell me, Roxana, what it all meant ! 

RoxANA. {Looking around about her, as if for 
help.) No, Gordon. 

Lee. {Holding her hands spasmodically.) I 
want to believe in you ! I must solve this thing my- 
self, beyond all doubt, beyond all suspicion. Then, 
then, the dawn may come again. Let me think. 

{He looks down at the floor. She looks down 
upon him with love and pity in her eyes.) 

Roxana. {After a moment.) Gordon, will you 
promise me that you will not attack Wellington 
Turner ? 

Lee. {Looks long into her eyes.) Yes; I 
promise. 

Roxana. And that you will say no more hor- 
rible things about him or his race ? 

Lee. I have said some bad things, haven't I, 
Roxana ? 

Roxana. Some awful things. You said you 
would hang Turner to-morrow and burn his school 
to the ground, with its black students inside it, if 
you had your way. 

Lee. {Pondering.) Yes; and you said, "Gor- 
don, you shall be sorry for that!" 

Roxana. Are you, Gordon? 
80 



^'^ " ROXANA 

Lee. (Sincerely.) Yes; I am sorry, {He rises. 
There is a glad note in his voice.) for that is why 
you did what you did to-day. 

RoxANA. But Gordon 

Lee. (Fervently.) That was why! Now, now, 
I have your secret! (He talks rapidly.) After I 
left here, Turner happened to call on business con- 
nected with the statue. You saw that I had left my 
book — you saw me, through the window, returning 
to get it, and you threw yourself upon Turner just 
as I came in, in order to humble and punish me for 
what I had said. You cared nothing for Turner — 
only to humble me. You did not think even of the 
false position you were putting Turner in, and you 
have not thought of what was due him during all the 
time that you have been keeping your real motive 
from me. That motive was to humble and punish 
me, Roxana, and you are ashamed of it. Turner 
was only an unwilling instrument in your hands. 
You are right ! You are innocent ! There was noth- 
ing wrong, in the way I meant. You love me and 
me alone! 

Roxana. (Simply.) Only you! But Gordon— 
Lee. Never mind! You need not explain. I 

see it all ! ^ But how could you ? How could you ? 

To think it was a damned nigger ! Ugh ! 
Roxana. Stop, Gordon! 

8i 



ROXANA A't « 

Lee. I will not stop! I know there is nothing 
between you and Turner, but your own foolish im- 
pulse of the moment. I know you are nothing to 
him, and that he is nothing to you. But, this fool- 
ish idea of humbling me for my hatred, Roxana, will 
prevent your ever consulting with Turner again. 

Roxana. (Very white.) But, Gordon, he — 
Lee. (With great finality.) You cannot com- 
plete the statue, now. 

Roxana. Oh, but — 

Lee. There can be no further communication be- 
tween you of any kind. 

Roxana. {With spirit.) But what if I will not 
agree to give up the statue ? 

Lee. {More kindly, but very earnest.) Roxana, 
you must give up either the statue or me, forever, 
and you must never speak to Turner again. 

Roxana. (With the back of her hand to her 
brow. In pain.) Oh! 

Lee. {Goes to her.) I know it will be very 
hard. 

Roxana. (Greatly agitated.) Oh, you should 
not ask that ! You do not know what you are ask- 
ing. 

Lee. Yes; I know it is hard to lose your first 
large commission. 

82 



Aot « ROXANA 

RoxANA. ( To herself. ) Oh, it is so hard ! So 
hard! 

Lee. But there will be others. 

RoXANA. {With determination.) And there 
will be you, Gordon. 

Lee. I hope you will get another commission 
soon. It will help to pass the time while I am gone. 
(Tenderly.) Then I shall come back to my artist- 
wife. 

RoxANA. And she will care for nothing but you. 

Lee. {Clasping her in, his arms.) Really? 

RoxANA. What is a statue, compared to you, 
Gordon ? 

Lee. Or a moment's folly, to a lifetime without 
you! Let us never speak of it again. I want to 
forget that I ever saw it. 

RoxANA. Do you really want me after all ? 

Lee. Do I want you! Everything is as it was 
before I came back for the book. I could not live 
without you, Roxana. 

RoxANA. But you will have to, for a year. 
Lee. Yes ; but you will be mine before I go. 

Roxana. (Almost fearfully.) Gordon, I can- 
not believe it. 

Lee. (Holding her close.) Day after to-morrow ! 

83 



ROXANA ^^* " 

RoxAN A. ( Sighing. ) Yes ; day after to-morrow. 

Lee. .You do love me ! 

RoxANA. (Clinging to him.) Yes. 

Lee. (He kisses her.) What a short honeymoon 
we shall have, Roxana. Only a month. 

RoxANA. (Slyly.) How long do you expect a 
honeymoon to last, Gordon? Honeymoon means a 
month, you know. 

Lee. Gracious, how technical! If I could re- 
main here, at home, we should make ours last for- 
ever. But, anyway, we shall have our month — our 
honeymoon ! 

Roxana. (Clinging.) And, after that, a whole 
long year of separation. Don't leave me, Gordon. 
Take me with you ! 

Lee. If it were only possible ! 

Roxana. Why isn't it possible, Gordon? 

Lee. Because it is best that you remain here 
among your friends. You could not follow me into 
the wilds of the Philippines, and you would be un- 
happy if I were to leave you in Manila. You would 
not care to live there among strangers, and have me 
far away from you all the time, would you, dear ? 

Roxana. No, Gordon. I will remain here, 
waiting and hoping and waiting. You must come 
home to me safe and sound. 

84 



Act 11 ROXANA 

Lee. I shall, Roxana. And while I am gone, 
you will be always with me, in my thoughts and in 
my sight. I shall see you in the ocean and in the 
skies above the rice fields. These eyes will smile at 
me from the depths of the jungle rivers, and I shall 
see this face upon the leaves of the palm trees. I 
will listen for the murmurs of these lips in the wind- 
whispers of the bamboos and the nipas. 

Roxana. You will be happy, Gordon, There 
will be so much to occupy your time in the Islands. 
But you are going in search of the wild and strange 
— among those terrible people. I must pray for you 
every day and night till you are home again. Won't 
that be glorious — to be home again ? 

Lee. {He kisses her.) But you must remember 
that I have not yet gone. And there will be that 
glorious month! 

Roxana. Gordon ! 

Lee. In two more days you will be my wife. 
{The room grows darker.) 

Roxana. Your wife ! I cannot believe it. 

Lee. {Looks toward window.) How dark it's 
getting. 

Roxana. Yes; it's going to storm again. 

Lee. {Looks at his watch.) I must go before it 
pours. Where is my book? 

85 



ROXANA A^t " 

RoXANA. (Going to the table,) Here it is. 

{She hands it to him.) 
Lee. Good bye, till to-night ! 

{He kisses her.) 
RoxANA. Good bye, Gordon! 

(// grows darker still.) 
Lee. {In doorway.) Till to-night! We'll have 
to plan for our little wedding, you know. Good 
bye! 

{He leaves, rear.) 
RoXANA. {Azved. Coming forward.) Only two 
more days ! How dark it's getting ! 



(the curtain swiftly falls.) 



86 



ACT THIRD. 



The same room, fifteen months later. It is dark out 

of doors. A lamp is turned low, on the table. 
Roxana enters in the gloom and turns up the lamp. 

She goes to the window and lowers the curtain. 

There is no change in her except for a suggestion 

of young matronliness in her dress and manner. 

She touches a push-button. Ella enters, left. 

Roxana. You may serve tea in here, Ella. I 
want to be near the nursery. 

Ella. Is he asleep ? 

Roxana. (Wearily.) Yes; at last. 

Ella. Everything is ready. I shall bring the 
tray right in. 

Roxana. That is good of you, Ella. Ah, if I 
only had an appetite ! 

Ella. You must eat. Miss Roxie. 

Roxana. (Dully.) Yes; I suppose so. (Sinks 
wornly into a chair.) Well; bring it in. 

(Ella stands for a moment looking at her 
pityingly from behind. She shakes her 

87 



ROXANA A't ni 

head slowly; then leaves, left, Roxana 
riseSj goes to the table, and picks up a pho- 
tograph of Lee.) 

Roxana. My husband! Home to-night! {She 
kisses the picture and continues to look at it long- 
ingly while her bosom heaves with a deep sigh. At 
last she throws back her head with sudden resolu- 
tion.) He shall not know to-night! No; not till 
morning. To-night is minel All mine! There 
shall be nothing to mar it. 

Ella. {Enters, left, with tray.) See what fine, 
light biscuits I have made you, and how plump and 
brown the squab is. Surely, this will tempt you. 
(Sets tray on table.) This chopped pickle is fine for 
the appetite. {Draws up chair to table, for Roxana,) 
Shall I pour the tea for you ? 

Roxana. No; never mind, dear. {Goes to 
table. ) What a lovely supper ! 

Ella. Yes; and you must eat it, Miss Roxie, 
every bit. 

Roxana. {Sits at table. Determinedly.) Yes; I 
will eat it. 

Ella. {At door, left.) Is there anything else, 
Miss Roxie? 

Roxana. Yes, Ella. I want you to sleep in the 
nursery to-night. If the baby should wake and you 
cannot quiet him, call me. I shall sleep in my own 
room. {Pours the tea.) 

88 



A^t "I ROXANA 

Ella. Very well, Miss Roxie. {Turns to leave,) 

RoxANA. AndLE\\2L\ {Ella faces her.) Mr. Lee 
must not see the child to-night. He has been ill all 
day and must rest well. My baby must not be ex- 
cited by strange faces to-night — not even his father's. 

Ella. Yes, Miss Roxie. 

RoxANA. Be careful not to wake him when you 
go into the nursery. 

Ella. I'll be very careful. 

RoxANA. You might look in now to see if every- 
thing is all right. 

{Ella leaves, rear, Roxana proceeds with 
her meal.) 

Ella. {Reentering.) He is sleeping soundly. 

Roxana. I'm so glad. It's been a hard day. 

Ella. When do you leave for the station. Miss 
Roxie ? 

Roxana. Mr. Conners will call for me at eight, 
but I can not go to the train. I cannot leave him. 
{Nods toward rear.) 

Ella. Oh, Miss Roxie! You will be disap- 
pointed and so will Mr. Conners and Mr. Lee. / 
can look after the baby. 

Roxana. No, Ella. I wouldn't dare leave him 
for a minute. {She regards Ella, in silence, for a 
moment.) Ella, I have decided not to tell Mr. Lee 
to-night. 

89 



ROXANA A<*™ 

Ella. (With some alarm.) But will it not be 
best to tell him before he sees the child, Miss Roxie? 

RoxANA. (Quickly.) Yes; of course. I shall 
tell him first, but not till to-morrow. (In despair.) 
Oh, Ella! To think my baby should be colored! 
(She buries her face in her napkin.) 

Ella. (Going to her.) Don't, Miss Roxie! 
Please don't begin that again. It won't help things 
to grieve. 

RoxANA. No; and I am not to grieve to-night. 
There will be time enough, to-morrow, when he 
knows all. But this — this is my night! Some- 
how, I feel as if it holds my last few hours of hap- 
piness, in all the world. (Pauses.) Come here, 
Ella. 

(Ella goes to her, and she takes both her 
hands.) 

RoXANA. You have shared all my secrets. 
(Smiles sadly.) I have had a great many, haven't I? 

Ella. I have kept them all, Miss Roxie. 

RoxANA. Yes, dear. Even to the last and great- 
est one — the color of the boy in there. Besides you, 
only the doctor knows. 

Ella. It is fortunate Mrs. Thorne has been 
abroad, Miss Roxie. 

RoxANA. Ah, yes. I feared she would return 
before Mr. Lee. That danger is past, if it was a 

90 



*<=* in ROXANA 

danger. Anyway, he will learn the truth first from 
my lips, now. 

Ella. You do not think Mr. Conners suspects 
anything? 

RoxANA. (Sadly.) No ; but he must think it odd 
that he has not yet seen the boy. I had to tell him 
that the first man who would be allowed to see him, 
was his father. I think it hurt Mr. Conners. He 
has not called so often since. He must think me 
very capricious. 

Ella. You imagine that, Miss Roxie. 

RoXANA. Perhaps. Anyway, it has been a diffi- 
cult matter to put off my other friends, hasn't it, 
Ella? (Sighs.) My stock of excuses is about used 
up. (Smiles sadly.) 

Ella. S-h-h-h ! Isn't someone at the front door? 
I muffled the bell so the baby wouldn't be wakened. 

RoxANA. Yes ; it is time for Mr. Conners. 

(Ella leaves, rear. After some moments, 
Conners, in linen auto-ulster, with cap, 
enters, rear.) 

Conners. (Heartily.) Good evening, Roxana! 
At tea? I'll wager you're not eating much, with all 
the excitement of Gordon's coming home. (She 
rises and gives him her hand.) By George, I couldn't 
eat much myself! I was in such a hurry to get 
away. 

91 



ROXANA Ac* "I 

RoxANA. You good, old Ralph ! I know you're 
almost as anxious to see him as I am. I hope the 
train will be on time. 

CoNNERS. It is. I called up just a few minutes 
ago. (Surveys the tea-tray.) Finish your supper, 
Roxana. We've a little time. Don't mind me. 

RoXANA. Won't you let me take your coat and 
cap? 

CoNNERS. No; it won't be worth while. 

Roxana. {She resumes her seat at the table.) I 
am so sorry, Ralph ! I cannot go to the station. 

CoNNERS. (i^mn^.) Why, Roxana! Gordon will 
be terribly disappointed. 

Roxana. Yes ; but you must tell him my boy is 
ill. He has had a very hard day, Ralph. 

CoNNERS. That is /oo bad ! (Quickly.) I hope 
it's nothing serious. 

Roxana. I hope not, but he must be watched. 
Really, it is utterly impossible for me to leave the 
house. 

CoNNERS. Yes; under the circumstances. I will 
explain them to Gordon, and hurry him home to 
you. 

Roxana. Yes; do! 

CoNNERS. (Looks at his watch.) If I could 
only hurry the train in. (Sits.) 

92 



*<^ ™ ROXANA 

RoxANA. Does anyone else know that he will 
arrive to-night? 

CoNNERS. No; I have managed to keep it a 
secret. Gordon did not want a crowd at the train. 
The success of the expedition has enthused everyone 
connected with the college and the museum. Even 
the public is interested. His friends would mob 
him if they knew he would arrive to-night. 

RoXANA. {Quickly and anxiously.) And it 
might be late before he could escape them. They 
mustn't know he is coming, Ralph. I want him all 
to myself to-night. You don't think they know, do 
you? 

CoNNERS. No ; they have no means of knowing. 

RoxANA. I'm so glad. You'll speed your car 
on the way home, won't you ? 

CoNNERS. And get us both arrested for fast 
driving? In that case, you would probably see 
neither of us till morning. 

RoxANA. Oh, no! You mustn't do that! Just 
speed it up to the police limit. Gordon will be glad 
to see you, Ralph. He knows all about your success 
in the council. I have sent him the papers. 

CoNNERS. I haven't done all that I had planned. 

RoxANA. Yes ; but for a new member, you have 
made some excellent committees, and then distin- 
guished yourself. How Is the investigation of the 
bribery case progressing? 

93 



ROXANA A<^t ™ 

CoNNERS. You mean Henry Porter's case? 

RoxANA. Yes. 

CoNNERS. We shall be able to hush that up. 
Public sentiment, except among the negroes, is 
against any investigation, and the state's attorney 
would kill himself politically if he took any real 
action in the matter. I had an investigating com- 
mittee appointed by the political organization of 
which I am president, to satisfy the colored voters 
in my ward, but we shall be careful to see that noth- 
ing comes of it. 

RoXANA. Do you think that is honorable, 
Ralph? 

CoNNERS. No; it Is not. But when the ques- 
tion of color arises, things that are not honorable 
must often be done. 

RoxANA. ( To herself.) That's what / thought ! 

CONNERS. You ! 

RoXANA. {Recovering herself. Lightly.) I 
have been following the Porter case, you see. 

CoNNERS. When one deals with the color ques- 
tion, deception Is Inevitable. 

RoXANA. {Bitterly.) And discovery and de- 
spair! They too are inevitable. 

CoNNERS. {Rising hastily.) What do you 
mean? 

94 



*<=* I" ROXANA 

RoxANA. That it is the best to deal honestly 
with the color question, and to call a spade a spade. 

CoNNERS. (Sits.) One can not do that in 
politics and succeed. 

RoXANA. (Rising.) Nor in love. But the end 
will be just the same. Believe me, Ralph, it will be 
just the same. 

CoNNERS. (Troubled.) I do not understand 
you. (Smiles.) But to me, you always were a 
mystery, Roxana. (Looks at his watch.) Well, I 
must be going. I'll have Gordon here in fifteen 
minutes. (Goes toward rear.) Good bye! 

Roxana. (Following him.) Hurry back, won't 
you, Ralph? 

CoNNERS. (Heartily.) Trust me, Roxana! 
(Leaves, rear.) 

Ella. (Enters, left.) Shall I remove the tray, 
Miss Roxie ? 

Roxana. (Sits in chair, right.) Yes, Ella. 

Ella. Miss Roxie, I wish to ask you a question. 

Roxana. Very well, Ella ; what is it ? 

Ella. You will not think me inpertinent ? 

Roxana. No ; you could not offend me, Ella. 

Ella. Miss Roxie, have you told Mr. Welling- 
ton about the color of your child ? 

95 



ROXANA Act in 

RoxANA. No, Ella. Do you remember the 
night I sent you to him with the note? 

Ella. Yes; It was two days before your wed- 
ding. Mr. Wellington had been here that day. 
(Sadly.) He has not been here since, Miss Roxie. 

RoxANA. That is true, Ella, because in that note, 
I told him I should marry Mr. Lee, and could not 
finish the statue, and — and I asked him never to see 
me or write to me again. 

Ella. Miss Roxie! How could you? 

RoxANA. Yes; I did that, Ella. 

Ella. Oh, Miss Roxie! 

RoxANA. (Quietly.) It was because of my love 
for my husband. 

Ella. I know; but I wish you could have seen 
Mr. Wellington when he read your note. He had 
me wait to see if there was an answer. 

RoxANA. (Softly.) Yes; you have told me how 
the tears came into his eyes. 

Ella. And how they ran down his cheeks, Miss 
Roxie ; and how he pressed the letter to his lips ! 

RoxANA. (She cries a little.) What did he say, 
Ella? Tell me again what he said. 

Ella. He said, *'God keep her! There is no 
other answer. Only that — God keep her!" 

RoXANA. Oh ! 

96 



^^ ^" ROXANA 

Ella. Don't grieve, Miss Roxie! It will all 
come right, yet. 

RoxANA. (Rising.) I have thought that, but the 
boy makes it all impossible. He is the ''scarlet letter' 
of my deceit. You see, I have sought all along to 
deny an intolerable condition. I have denied my 
colored blood. I thought the condition would be 
destroyed by my denial, and that it would lose its 
power to make me miserable. The denial has oAly 
added to my cup of bitterness. My spirit is the slave 
of my flesh. I cannot break the chains nature has 
bound about me. (Sinks into a chair.) It is no use 
— no use. 

Ella. You must not lose hope. 

RoxANA. {Looks up at her with a sad smile.) 
Hope? Ah, no; there is no hope. (Faces front.) 
For me there is only the eternal conflict — of emotions, 
affections, instincts, prejudices. It is the battle of 
the races being fought within and about me. By 
day, there is the external combat. By night, the in- 
ternal. Then, at night, when I am all alone, I feel 
the shock of charge and countercharge. It is the 
clash of the black legions with the white. (Rises.) 
The battle-ground is here — here in my heart, where 
the white blood meets the black, in an endless, war- 
ring surge. 

Ella. (Goes to her and takes her hands.) Life 
is not easy for us, Is it, Miss Roxie? 

97 



ROXANA A^* "^ 

RoxANA. (Sadly.) No; it is not easy. (Smiles 
kindly, and pauses for a moment.) Ella, did not 
Henry Porter call on you last evening? 

Ella. Yes, Miss Roxie. At first, I wouldn't 
see him. Then he pleaded with me to let him come 
in. He said he wanted my advice, that men from 
the state's attorney's office were after him. 

RoxANA. The state's attorney's! Are you sure 
the men were from his office? 

Ella. Yes; the state's attorney wants him to go 
before the grand jury and tell all he knows about 
the bribery matter. I advised him to do so. He will 
turn state's evidence. 

RoxANA. (To herself.) Then the state's attor- 
ney is not afraid to act after all. 

Ella. No, Miss Roxie. Henry went before the 
grand jury to-day. 

RoxANA. (To herself.) To-day! (To Ella, 
after a moment.) Have you and Henry then become 
reconciled, Ella? 

Ella. Yes, Miss Roxie. We have an understand- 
ing. Henry is to give up the bribe money to the 
authorities and tell all he knows. When that is 
done, I will agree to marry him. 

RoxANA. I am so glad for your sake and Henry's. 
He has been taught a severe lesson. 

98 



*■=* ™ ROXANA 

Ella. He will not degrade himself again, Miss 
Roxie. Henry is a different man to-day. 

RoxANA. He was sorely tempted, Ella. It would 
not have been an easy thing for a negro to sit on the 
municipal bench. 

Ella. No; it would have been made very hard 
for him. 

RoxANA. Of course! and he knew it, and took 
the bribe to give it up. 

Ella. Your brother wouldn't have done that, 
Miss Roxie. 

RoxANA. No. Wellington would have taken his 
seat if he had been stoned for it. 

Ella. Your brother has been my ideal. Miss 
Roxie. I thought at first that Henry was like him, 
and when he proved so base, I couldn't endure him. 

RoxANA. I am glad you have faith in him now. 

Ella. I can look up to him now, after the repara- 
tion he has made to-day. 

RoxANA. (Listening.) What was that? I 
thought I heard the baby cry. 

Ella. I'll go see, Miss Roxie. 

(Ella leaves, rear. Roxana goes to the table, 
and picks up Lee^s picture. She lays it 
down again with a sigh.) 

Ella. (Entering.) He is sleeping soundly now. 
99 



ROXANA ^^^ 11^ 

RoXANA. Thank you, Ella. You'd better remove 
the tray. They'll soon be here. 

(Ella goes to the table to remove the tray. 
As she reaches it, an infant's cry comes 
through the doorway j rear.) 

Ella. {Setting tray down again,) It's the boy. 
I must have awakened him. 

RoxANA. Go ahead with the tray, Ella. Vll go 
to him. 

{She leaves, rear. An auto-horn is heard 
outside. Ella runs to the window and 
looks out.) 
Ella. They have come. 

{She goes out, rear, reentering almost imme- 

diately with Conners and Lee. They all 

talk in lowered voices.) 

Ella. Yes; he has been quite ill to-day. His 

mother just went in to him. I'll tell her you are here. 

{She takes tray out, left.) 

Conners. Does it seem like old times again, 
Gordon ? 

Lee. {Looking around the room.) It is heavenly. 

Conners. The old room hasn't changed much. 

Lee. No. This was our favorite lounging place, 
Ralph, Roxana's and mine, during that one short 
month of our honeymoon. {Again looking around 

100 



A«t ™ RQXANA 

the room, startled.) How I miss Roxana! She 
should be here! 

{Ella enters, rear, before he finishes.) 

Ella. Miss Roxie will soon be in, Mr. Lee. The 
boy is almost asleep again. 

Lee. ( Turns to Conners with a smile.) The boy! 
My boy! Mine and Roxana's. Who does he most 
resemble, Ralph? 

Conners. I have not yet seen the child, Gordon. 

Lee. Impossible ! I thought you called here fre- 
quently ? 

Conners. {Lightly.) I have, but Roxana has 
said that "no man but the lad's own daddy shall see 
him first, and Roxana's word is law. 

Lee. {Looks toward rear with a happy smile.) 
My wife! {Heartily.) But that was rather rough 
on you, old chap. 

Conners. {Laughing.) Wasn't it? The respon- 
sibility of permitting him to associate with me was a 
grave one. I do not blame Roxana for not wishing 
to shoulder it alone. 

Lee. What nonsense! I'll go in and take a peep 
at him now, and then if he wakes up before you go, 
you shall see him. {Ella goes between him and the 
rear doorway.) Where is the boy, Ella? 

Ella. {Quickly.) You musn't go in there now. 

Lee. {Surprised.) No; why not? 

lOI 



ROXANA Act ra 

Ella. {Confused.) You — you might wake him. 

Lee. {In fun,) I'll be very quiet. See! {Walks 
on tiptoes as he tries to pass her. Conners laughs.) 

Ella. {Backing up, but firmly blocking his way.) 
No, no, Mr. Lee! You must not. 

Lee. {Sternly, drawing himself up.) What's 
this? 

Ella. The child is asleep. 

Lee. {Angrily.) You have already told me so. 

Ella. You might wake him. 

Lee. {Firmly.) Nevertheless, I am going in. 
{Tries to pass.) 

Ella. {In front of him.) No ; you must not, Mr. 
Lee! 

Lee. {Nettled.) Stand aside, Ella! {Brushes, 
past her.) I am going to my wife and son. 

{As he reaches the doorway, Roxana enters 

it.) 

Roxana. {Hysterically.) Gordon! My husband! 
Lee. {With open arms.) Roxana! 

{She cries a little on his shoulder. Ella 
quietly leaves, rear. Conners turns dis- 
creetly toward the window. Roxana recov- 
ers herself and smiles up at Lee through 
her tears.) 
Roxana. How foolish of me to cry when I'm so 
happy, now that you're home again. 
102 



Act III ROXANA 

Lee. Yes; thank heaven! Home again! Never 
again to leave you and the boy. 

RoxANA. Oh, that's — {Her voice breaks.) 
that's — 

(// breaks again. She buries her head in 
violent weeping upon his shoulder.) 

Lee. {Alarmed.) Why, my dear! 

CoNNERS. {Going toward them.) The child's 
illness and the excitement of your home-coming have 
been too much for her. 

RoxANA. {Recovering herself, and facing Con- 
ners.) I fear — I fear I am a little tired. 

{Lee draws up a chair for her and she sits 
down.) 

Lee. {Going toward push-button.) I'll have Ella 
bring you a glass of w^ine. 

RoxANA. Thank you, Gordon. Sit dow^n, Ralph. 

Lee. {Drawing up chairs.) Yes; sit dov^^n. It 
has been a long time since we three have been to- 
gether. {Sits near his wife and places his hand on 
hers. Looks at Conners.) Ralph has not grown 
stouter with his aldermanic honors, has he Roxana? 

Conners. Give me time! I've been in the coun- 
cil only about a year. 

Roxana. Ralph has been working too hard to 
take on flesh. 

103 



ROXANA A'*™ 

Lee. Yes; I have managed to keep track of you, 
Ralph, although letters and papers were few and 
far between, in the Islands. 

Ella. {Entering left.) Did you ring? 

RoxANA. You may bring me a glass of sherry, 
Ella. {To Conners and Lee.) Won't you have a 
glass too? 

Conners. No; I thank you. I believe not. 

Lee. I'll have a glass. 

RoxANA. Bring two glasses, Ella. 
{Ella leaves, left.) 

Conners. You are looking well, Gordon. 

RoxANA. Yes; isn't he? And so tanned! 

Conners. I feared the malaria might get you. 

Lee. No; I managed to keep out of the malaria 
districts except for some days spent among the 
Moros. Then we had plenty of quinine along. 

RoxANA. And the head-hunters! You must 
have found them a horrible people, Gordon. 

Lee. Yes ; head-hunting was practiced among the 
Negritos and the Zambeles. I secured a large col- 
lection of trophies. Shall I reserve some for decor- 
ating our new home, Roxana? 

RoxANA. {Horrified.) Do you mean the heads? 

Lee. {Winks at Conners.) Of course. They 
have dried. 

104 



Art i« ROXANA 

{Ella enters with the wtne, left.) 

RoxANA. Ugh ! Such things for a home ? ( Takes 
a glass of sherry from the tray.) 

CoNNERS. Are the dried heads the happiest items 
in your Philippine collection, Gordon? 

Lee. {Taking wine from tray.) You might pre- 
fer the bolos with which the heads were severed. I 
brought back a large collection of savage weapons. 

RoXANA. {Handing empty glass to Ella.) Thank 
you, Ella. 

Lee. Here, Ella. {Hands her his glass, empty.) 
{Ella goes out, left, with the tray.) 

CoNNERS. Why do the savages hunt heads, Gor- 
don? 

Lee. To satisfy the death vengeance. 

RoxANA. The death vengeance? 

Lee. Yes; you see when one of a family dies, 
four or five of the men relatives put on black cloths, 
which are not removed until one of the men returns 
with the head of a human victim. 

RoxANA. What a frightful custom ! 

CoNNERS. Then the victim whose head is brought 
home, may have had nothing to do with the death 
of the person which originally caused the head- 
hunting? 

105 



ROXANA A«* "I 

Lee. That is the case. The head-hunting may 
follow a natural death, as well as a violent one. 

RoxANA. How stupid to wreak vengence on an 
innocent person because one's relative has died a 
natural death! 

Lee. {Relighting his cigar.) What can one ex- 
pect of niggers but stupidity and savagery. 

(Roxana starts and pales, unseen by the 
others.) 

Ella. {Entering, rear, quickly.) Mr. Conners, 
your father is at the 'phone. He wishes to speak to 
you at once. He seems greatly agitated. 

Conners. {Rises. Anxiously.) My father? {To 
himself.) I wonder if anything has happened? {Goes 
toward rear.) I'll speak to him at once. Excuse me 
for a moment. 

{He goes out rear.) 

Roxana. I hope there's nothing wrong! 

Lee. {Rising.) I hope not. {Turns toward rear, 
waiting and smoking.) 

Ella. {Enters, rear, as a door is heard to close.) 
Mr. Conners has just left the house. He said to 
tell you that everything is all right. 

Lee. But it's very odd that he should leave so! 

Roxana. {Rising.) Yes; isn't it! 

Lee. What did he say at the 'phone, Ella? 

1 06 



A«=t m ROXANA 

Ella. He caught up the receiver for a moment, 
and then I heard him say: ''Has he done that? 
Where are you now? I'll join you in a few min- 
utes. My car is outside." 

Lee. I suppose it's some urgent business matter. 

RoxANA. (To herself.) I hope it's nothing 
worse ! 

Ella. Mr. Conners seemed much perturbed. 

Lee. I'm sure it's only business. ( Turns toward 
his wife.) 

(Ella I eaves J rear.) 

RoxANA. (Deeply. Going to him.) Gordon! 
At last we are alone ! 

Lee. (Looks around as he clasps her to him.) 
Quite alone again, after all the love-starved months. 
(Takes her face in his hands.) Alone with my wife. 
(He stands off to look at her.) How beautiful you 
are! More beautiful than ever! The curves are a 
little fuller — exquisitely rounded now — like your 
marble. What a prize you are! What a glorious 
woman! (Goes toward her.) Your eyes are fairly 
calling me. They are more lustrous — more allur- 
ing than ever. 

RoXANA. (Mischievously.) Are you sure it isn't 
the wine, Gordon ? 

Lee. Yes ; it is the wine — the wine of your form 
and eyes and their story! The wine that lies in the 

107 



ROXANA ^^™ 

memory of the sighing love that I shall hear again 
to-night. (Takes her in his arms.) But what I 
have knovv^n seems to be only a far-off dream com- 
pared to this, to-night. It seems to be the first time 
I have held you — really held you, in my arms. 
(He looks into her eyeSj his face close to hers. She 
sighs, closing her eyes, and throwing hack her head 
slowly.) It is the dawn of day! 

RoXANA. (Opening her eyes and starting as if 
from a dream.) No; it is only a night. 

Lee. Yes; only one of the thousands that are to 
be ours. 

RoxANA. (Deeply. To herself.) The thousands 
all in one! 

(As she speaks, she leans further and further 
hack, and he lowers her somewhat upon his 
arm; then bending over her, he meets her 
lips in a long kiss. He releases her, and 
she sinks into a chair.) 

Lee. (Standing over her.) Hadn't you better re- 
tire, my dear? 

RoXANA. (Looking up at him, and taking his 
hands.) Yes; I will go soon. Sit here beside me 
for a little while. Bring up a chair and tell me of 
your life in the Islands. 

Lee. Indeed, I shall, but do you know, most of 
it was spent in dreams of you. 

io8 



Aot I" ROXANA 

RoxANA. That's very pretty, but the success of 
your work disproves it. Now tell me about your 
work, not your dreams. 

Lee. (Drawing up a chair.) Which tribe do you 
wish me to tell you about? 

RoxANA. The Negritos. 

Lee. Yes; they were very interesting. I believe 
I wrote you that I spent much time among them. 

RoxANA. Yes; you did, Gordon. 

Lee. Well, they are undersized and black, with 
thick, broad noses and kinky hair. They look very 
much like ordinary negroes. 

RoXANA. Why did you spend so much time among 
them? 

Lee. Because they are supposed to have been the 
original inhabitants of the Philippines, and I was 
interested also in their language. 

RoxANA. Did you really learn it? 

Lee. Well, only a part. You see, it is all gur- 
gles and clicks. 

RoxANA. (Laughing.) Why it must sound like 
baby talk. 

Lee. (Smiles.) Yes; the boy in there (indicates 
rear.) could give you a fair example of it. 

(Roxana starts and pales, but recovers her- 
self quickly.) 

109 



ROXANA Aot™ 

RoXANA. When did you get my cablegram, say- 
ing that he had come? 

Lee. Just a month or so before I left the islands. 
Your letter telling me that you had given up sculp- 
ture to make our son's clothes was received some 
months before that, so you see I was not entirely 
unprepared for the news. When you wrote about 
working on his little gowns, Roxana, I thought of 
what you had said to me before our marriage. 

Roxana. What was that, Gordon ? 

Lee. I had said that you might be famous as a 
sculptor when I returned, and you said, "I want no 
laurels, Gordon. They shall be for you and your 
sons. I want only your love and theirs, and my 
pride in you and them." 

Roxana. {Dully.) Did I say that? 

Lee. Yes; and then you said that there was a 
greater work for you than art. 

Roxana. Yes; and you asked me what work. 

Lee. And you replied, "My life with you." Rox- 
ana, they were the sweetest words that I have ever 
known. 

Roxana. (Dully.) Yes; my life with. you. 

Lee. Now you have a son to fill that life with 
me. You must be very proud of him. (Musingly.) 
My son! (Looks up at her.) Ah, but I have 
dreams for him. 

no 



Act III ROXANA 

RoxANA. {Her face is hard. She looks the other 
way.) Yes! dreams. 

Lee. We will give him a happy, healthy child- 
hood, filled with manliness and love. 

RoxANA. (Dw//y.) Yes; a happy childhood. {She 
smiles bitterly^ but he does not see.) 

Lee. And a sure and vigorous education at the 
university. 

RoxANA. {Smiles cynically.) When you object 
to educating the {Bites her lip.) 

Lee. Object to what? 

RoxANA. To a boy's entering college too early. 

Lee. No, no ; you misunderstand me, Roxana. He 
shall not enter too early. 

Roxana. {Dryly.) Oh. 

Lee. But when he does, he will make his mark, 
will he not, dear? He is your son. He will in- 
herit all your graces — all that have made you dear to 
me. He will have all your qualities of heart, and 
mind, and beauty. Our darling boy! 

Roxana. {In despair.) Oh! 

Lee. {Rising.) Why, what is it? 

Roxana. A sharp, shooting pain through my head. 
{Smiles up at him.) It is gone now. 

Lee. {He strokes her hair and brow.) Do you 
have them often? 

Ill 



ROXANA A't ™ 

RoxANA. No; It is nothing. {She places the 
back of his hand against her cheek.) Sit down, 
dear, please. The pain is all gone now. 

Lee. Are you quite sure? 

RoxANA. Yes ; quite sure. 

(Lee seats himself near her.) 

Lee. When the cablegram came, telling me that 
the boy had arrived, I was living near a camp of 
Negritos, in the tangled forest. The message reached 
me two months after its receipt at the cable station. 
You see, one of my aids had brought it in after a 
long delay. I had just finished my supper. Can you 
guess what I had to eat? 

RoXANA. (Spritely.) Rice. 

Lee. (Laughing.) Rice, of course! Always 
rice. But what else? 

RoxANA. Betel nuts. 

Lee. Not guilty? Do you think I am that much 
a savage? Look at my teeth. Do they look as if 
I'd been eating betel nuts? 

RoxANA. What then ? 

Lee. Something wild. 

RoxANA. Wild honey! 

Lee. Yes; like John the Baptist. 

RoxANA. And locusts? 

Lee. (Laughs.) No; I drew the line at locusts. 

RoxANA. Well, then, what else ? 

112 



*'* '" ROXANA 

Lee. Wild pig, sweet potatoes, and jungle fruit. 

RoxANA. Indeed ? 

Lee. Oh, we lived high! 

RoXANA. {Laughing.) You must have, with 
your wild pig and sweet potatoes. What did you 
have to drink? 

Lee. Water, that day. I drank it out of a sjfull. 

RoxANA. Gordon! 

Lee. You see the Negritos sometimes make their 
enemies' heads into drinking vessels. 

RoxANA. But you didn't really drink out of it ! 

Lee. (Smiles.) Well, I had been writing all 
afternoon in the shade of a mango tree, with no one 
about but bushy headed Negrito women and flat 
nosed pickaninnies. How I longed for the sight of 
a white child! It had been ages since I had seen 
one. The naked little Negrito brats, with their 
chalky eyes and dark skins, repelled me. I hated the 
sight of them. 

RoxANA. {Very white.) Yes. 

Lee. You don't know how I longed for my own 
little son, {She cringes.) way back here in America, 
or how I laughed and cried over that cablegram. 

RoxANA. You cried ? So did I. 

Lee. That night, I went to see the Negrito dance 
of the full moon. I had learned that it was to be held 

113 



ROXANA Act HI 

in a clearing. The great silver disc of the moon 
cast ghostly shadows on the thick walls of the jungle 
about me as I waited. Soon the savages came, the 
men forming one ring, and the women another in- 
side it. Weird music filled the clearing, played on 
rude instruments by ruder hands, and the two rings 
of savages began to move round and round in op- 
posite directions. But, the dance I had so wanted to 
see was forgotten, and I saw only the full moon, 
which had looked down upon this house but a few 
short hours before. 

RoxANA. (Sadly.) Yes; the same moon. It 
must have seemed like an old friend. 

Lee. Yes; like one who had come from home, 
with good news of my wife and son. Then, the 
wild music of the dance roused me, and I thought of 
my strange surroundings and of the ugly Negrito 
women and their naked, colored brats. 

RoxANA. (Shuddering.) Oh! 

Lee. I tell you, I was sick of it all. And 
then I fell to picturing you, Roxana, with our own 
little white son on your lap, after his bath; how he 
cooed and smiled up atvyou, and how you laugh- 
ingly kissed his little pink hands and toes. 

Roxana. (Half rising in agony.) Oh, stop! It 
is too horrible. Gordon! I can endure it no longer! 

Lee. (Rising hastily.) Why, Roxana! My dear, 
what is it? 

114 



^'* "^ ROXANA 

ROXANA. {She leans forward with her elbow on 
her knee and her chin in her palm, looking straight 
ahead. Her voice is even, dry, and hard.) Your 
son is black as hell. 

Lee. My son? {Grasps her shoulder.) What do 
you mean? 

RoXANA. The child is colored. 

Lee. {In haunting fear,) You mean that it is 
part — part negro? 

RoxANA. Yes; that is it. 

Lee. {Stands erect, with hands to his head. In 
horror.) Great God! What have I come home to? 
{Drops his hands and turns on her.) Stand up! 

RoXANA. {She rises weakly.) Gordon 

Lee. Be still ! It is all too plain. Why have you 
brought me to this? Why did you let me marry 
you? 

RoxANA. Because I loved you too much to tell 
you the truth. 

Lee. {Angrily.) None of that this time do you 
hear? 

RoxANA. This time? 

Lee. I will not be fooled again. 

RoxANA. Believe me; I have no wish to fool 
you. Now you shall know everything. {Her voice 
breaks.) I intended to tell you to-morrow, because — 

115 



ROXANA A<=* ™ 

because I wanted your love to-night. I knew that it 
would go when you learned the truth. 

Lee. You wanted my love to-night, you mon- 
strous woman! Was not his enough? 

RoxANA. {With stiffening features. Coldly.) 
His? 

Lee. Yes; that of your blackamoor, Turner. 

RoXANA. {She winces.) Oh! {Coldly.) Wel- 
lington Turner is my brother. 

Lee. {Smiles incredulously.) Your brother? 

RoxANA. {Quickly.) Gordon, you must believe 
that! I have colored blood in my veins. My par- 
ents both had it. Not much, but enough to affect 
my brother and my son. That is why I would not 
tell you of my past. It is the only secret I have 
ever kept from you. Ah, if I had only kept my 
body from you too ! 

Lee. {Walking up and down. Hopelessly.) And 
you married me, knowing that! 

RoxANA. {In pain.) Yes. 

Lee. {Gripping his hands.) Oh, what a blow! 
What a cruel blow ! How could you ? How could 
you ? Ugh ! I have been drinking from a skull ! 

RoxANA. {She goes toward him.) Gordon 

Lee. {Impatiently.) Sit down! Let me think. 
{She sits at the table, her face in her arms 

ii6 



Act III ROXANA 

upon it, Lee continues to pace the floor, 
in silence.) 
RoxANA. {She rises again, and turns toward 

him.) Gordon, 

Lee. {Harshly.) I said sit down! 
RoXANA. {Very erect. She speaks quietly but 
firmly.) No, Gordon, I will not sit down. We 
shall both be free. I see you do not love me now. 
I knew you would not. There is only repugnance 
in your eyes. Your face is strange and set. I shall 
take the boy and go. It will be less embarrassing for 
you. It will be best for' me. 

Lee. {Coldly.) Wait! How many know of this 
thing? 

RoxANA. Two. Dr. Warren and Ella. Their 
lips are sealed. 

Lee. {Tensely.) I ought to kill you. 
RoxANA. {With a cry in her voice.) For this? 
Lee. Yes; for this. 

RoxANA. It is so odd ; so very odd ! I have de- 
ceived you about my blood because I have loved you, 
and you will not forgive me. {He begins to pace the 
floor again.) Listen, Gordon. Please listen to me ! 
Do you remember that day when you saw me kiss my 

brother? You thought he you thought tjiat I 

was unfaithful. Everything was against me— all 
the damning circumstances ; and I made no defense, 

117 



ROXANA *<=* ™ 

except to say that I had done no wrong. Yes; all 
was against me, horribly against me — all, but you. 
You were my advocate and judge. You took my 
word; you built wild excuses for me; you asked no 
proofs, and blindly, yes blindly, you acquitted me. 
But now, now you would kill me. Now, and for 
this. {After a moment,) Perhaps you would kill 
the boy, too — both the boy and me. 

Lee. {Turns from her.) 

RoxANA. No? Your civilization would not per- 
mit you to kill us. 

Lee. No ; that is impossible. 

RoxANA. And you could not assimilate us. 

Lee. {Proudly.) Hardly. 

RoxANA. Though we are a part of your own 
life. 

Lee. I cannot take you in. 

RoxANA. {Sadly.) Your prejudice will not per- 
mit it. 

{She turns from him. He looks ^t her, and 
takes a step toward her hungrily; then 
checks himself, and sinks into a chair, bury- 
ing his face in his hands.) 

Lee. Great God ! What shall I do with them ? 

RoxANA. {With calm pride.) Nothing. They 
will do for themselves. {She takes a few steps to- 
ward rear.) 

Ii8 



A<^ ™ ROXANA 

Lee. Where are you going? 

RoxANA. We are going to my brother, to work 
for the dawn of day. 

Lee. (Starts.) The dawn of day! Ah, what a 
mockery ! The dawn is past for me. 

RoxANA. You have only your dark prejudices to 
blame — ^yours and your people's. 

Lee. (Jumping up.) And you, with your lying 
skin and tainted blood! 

RoxANA. Once you taught me to hate my blood — 
to detest myself with bitter loathing. It was the 
love of you that taught me this. So, at times, I de- 
tested and hated my boy, and there have been hours 
when to keep your love I could have sacrificed my 
child. Yes; I had even thought of that — to keep 
the knowledge of his color and my blood from you. 
It was the savage in me, I suppose, for your love 
had become a fetish, and I could have killed my son 
as the Nile mothers once threw their babies to the 
crocodile. 

Lee. (To himself in horror.) To m>; love! 

RoxANA. But if it was true that color would 
out, so also would murder. I could reason that far, 
and my boy was saved. But it all shows where your 
love had led me. The sky has cleared. I know all 
values, now — of prejudice, and love, and hate — and 
that little child in there means more to me, Gordon, 
than you ever did or ever could. 
119 



ROXANA ^^* "^ 

Lee. My son! (In despair.) Oh, God! He is 
black. 

RoxANA. (Simply.) Yes; like his uncle. If he 
shall be like him in other ways, I can have no re- 
gret. My work shall be to guide his steps so that he 
too may work for the dawn of day. (She pauses. 
Calls are heard outside.) Listen! 

(They listen. Cries of newsboys are heard 
in the street.) 

RoxANA. It is an extra. They are calling Ralph's 
name! 

(She runs to the window and opens it.) 

Newsboy. (Outside.) EXTRA JOURNAL! 
ALL ABOUT THE PORTER BRIBERY 
CASE! ALDERMAN CONNERS INDICTED! 

Lee. (Going toward window.) What does it 
all mean? 

RoxANA. That the state's attorney was not afraid 
to act. (To herself.) Discovery and despair are 
Ralph's now, too. 

Lee. (Bitterly.) What can he know of despair? 
What is his to mine? (Roxana closes the window 
and lowers the curtain.) 

Roxana. His is the result of guilt, like mine. 

Lee. And mine? How have I deserved mine? 
It is like that of the innocent victim of the Negrito 
death vengeance. 

1 20 



Act III ROXANA 

RoXANA. Oh! {Turns in pain. Goes toward 
door J rear.) 

Lee. {Fearfully.) Where are you going? 

RoxANA. We are going to our work — ^your son, 
and I. 

Lee. {Wounded.) And you have no farwell for 
me? 

RoxANA. Yes; if you wish it. Gordon, good 
bye! 

Lee. ( With a heart cry.) No, no I To my arms ! 
Here, here in my arms, no matter who or what you 
are! Roxana, my wife, my love! {He has gone 
toward her.) 

RoxANA. {Firmly.) No. Gordon. That is all 
past. 

Lee. {Dully. Dropping his arms and halting.) 
All past. 

Roxana. Yes; it is better so — for you, and for 
me. 

Lee. {Turning from her in despair.) You have 
ruined my life. 

Roxana. Some people start with a ruined life. 

Lee. You mean among the negro race. 

Roxana. Yes. 

Lee. {Turning toward her appealingly.) But am 
I to blame for that? 

121 



ROXANA Act III 

RoxANA. You and your people are much to 
blame. 

Lee. {He gazes at her raptly.) 

RoxANA. {Quietly.) I am going now. Good 
bye. 

Lee. {Awed,) It is to be forever. 

RoxANA. {Very white.) Yes; forever. 

Lee. I shall not sleep to-night. 

RoxANA. Then you vv^ill see the dawn, the dawn 
of a new — a gentler day. 

Lee. Not for me. 

RoxANA. Yes; for you. 

Lee. {Slowly.) A gentler day! 

RoxANA. Good bye! {SHe goes toward the 
door.) 

Lee. No, no! Not yet! Do not leave me so! 
RoxANA. I must go. Good bye. 

{She goes out, rear. He paces the floor. 

She passes the door at back, wearing her 

hat. A white bundle is in her arms — her 

son.) 

Lee. {He takes a step toward rear, with a cry.) 

Roxana ! My wife ! My love ! 

{A door is heard to close. He sinks heavily 
into a chair, with his face in his hands. He 

122 



A«t ™ ROXANA 

remains so for a jew moments, then drops 
his hands and raises his head. He gets up 
and lowers the lamp a little; then goes to 
the window and sends the shade to the 
top. He stands looking out, his face up- 
turned, calm and resigned.) 
Lee. I will wait here for the dawn. {He smiles 

sadly, but fondly.) Perhaps, it will bring "a gentler 

day." 



(the curtain softly falls.) 



123 



DEC 291S0S 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



